The Inciting Incident and Plot Point I: Understand the Difference

As many of you know, a screenplay is broadly divided into three acts:

1. The beginning (Setup) that is 22 to 30 pages long,
2. Middle (confrontation or conflict) that is about 60 pages long, and
3. End (Resolution) that is about 25 to 30 pages long.

But what most fresh screenwriters don’t seem to understand correctly and make a technical mistake in is the first act (the beginning or the setup) where their writing indicates their misunderstanding of the difference between the inciting incident and plot point I, the two major highs in the first act.

Let’s have a look at the definitions in order to make it easy for us to properly differentiate between the two screenplay elements and consequently be able to write Act I of our screenplays in the most effective way possible:

What is the Inciting Incident?

An inciting incident is the event that throws the everyday life of the protagonist out of balance. The event;

• must NOT has to do anything with the will of the protagonist,

• doesn’t necessarily have to be the reaction of something the protagonist did at the start of the screenplay, and

• must NOT be the reaction of something the protagonist did in his life that existed before the start of the screenplay.

What is the Plot Point I?

Plot point I or the first turning point in a screenplay is the event that takes place either by the will of the protagonist himself or without his will and forces his circumstances to a whole new direction. The plot point I is the result of the inciting incident.

The above definitions of the two elements of Act I may make you think that the inciting incident is the biggest thing that occurs in Act I. If it is indeed the case, you are actually disagreeing with the screenwriting coaches who teach in screenwriting academic programs and those screenwriting experts who have written and published books on screenwriting as those screenwriting courses and books which talk about plot point I in details maintain that the plot point I is the most biggest thing that happens in Act I. And you know what? They are absolutely right.

Let me explain it to you.

Regardless of which one of the two appears to be the biggest event in Act I, it will remain the fact that plot point I is the biggest one of the two because it is the plot point I that turns the story into a whole new, more conflicting and progressive direction. Moreover, the inciting incident complements the plot point I and the case is not the opposite. In this regard plot point I is taken into consideration as the biggest event of Act I among Hollywood professionals.

Now that you are aware of the difference between the inciting incident and plot point I, it’s time now to start writing. So do it!


M.d Tabish Faraz is a freelance screenwriter, creative web content writer, article writer, and copywriterhttp://writers.net/writers/35682/


Writer's Online Courses
My Main Website
Enspiren Press

What Is A Plot?

Understanding what a plot is creates a foundation for an ability to create one. Unfortunately for most writers, they are consumed with the idea of creating the effect of what a plot does without first understanding what a plot is. What a plot does is raise dramatic questions a reader or viewer will follow a story to its conclusion to get answers. What a plot is is the process of generating questions around the outcome of a story's dramatic purpose that gives a story a dramatic shape and outcome fulfilling to an audience.

Romeo and Juliet is an example of a well-crafted plot. By loving each other in spite of the mutual hatred of their families, Romeo and Juliet set the story in motion. But it is the story's plot that makes the story's movement toward its fulfillment dramatic. By raising up the obstacles that block the love of Romeo and Juliet fulfilling itself, the story's plot makes the lover's plight more dramatic. Even knowing the story's outcome, the action of its plot -- moment by moment -- generates for the story's audience a dramatic experience of the power of a love that will not be denied.

In any story, as characters act to achieve goals, the actions of such characters should advance the story toward its resolution and fulfillment. Because other characters are driven to shape a story's dramatic purpose to their design, they are naturally in opposition. As different characters act and block each other, they generate new obstacles to each others progress. This escalates the drama over character goals, scenes and the story's outcome. A plot operates around the effect of making a story's movement toward resolution and fulfillment dramatic. The catch is that it's only when a story is in motion that it has a movement to block. Without this quality of dramatic tension generated by a plot around a story's movement, a story appears to be a collection of incidents. The incidents may be dramatic individually, but collectively they fail to engage the interest of an audience. They fail because they lack a discernible purpose that arises out of resolving a story's dramatic purpose.

The key here is to understand that to describe a story about love is not to describe its plot. A story is about an issue of human need. A plot is what makes that issue acted out to resolution and fulfillment dramatic. To create a great plot about love is to turn what might appear to be a worn story idea, two teenagers in love, into Romeo and Juliet.

To illustrate how a plot grows from a story's premise, consider the novel The Hunt For Red October. On the surface, it appears to be a plot-driven thriller about a Lithuanian-descended commander of a Russian nuclear submarine attempting to flee to America and freedom. On a story level, however, it is about a battle between freedom and authoritarianism. This is laid out in the story's premise, The courage to battle oppression leads to freedom. Because readers desire to experience that state where the values of freedom win out over oppression, they readily internalize this story's movement. Because the story in its every action proved its premise, it drew in readers. Its highly praised plot succeeded because it made the underlying conflict of the story, freedom battling oppression, clear and dramatic.

It moved its audience.

Its plot operated to make that movement dramatic.

When every character's actions revolve around a story's core dramatic issue, the actions of each character affect every other character. A well-designed plot ensures those premise-generated actions increase the drama around the story's course and outcome. That makes the story's journey to its ultimate destination more potent.

Tom Clancy succeeded in creating a great plot because he understood how to create a plot that manifested the movement of his story. Every character, situation, and action grew out of his story's promise and existed in the world it created. Since the story of The Hunt For Red October concerns freedom battling oppression, the story's plot made visible and concrete the playing out of that deeper level of story. To the extent a reader feels emotionally or thoughtfully connected to this story, they are engaged by its plot.

As the story of Hunt is clearly and powerfully presented, the readers sees/feels/experiences how the freedom they identify with battles the oppression they dislike/hate/want to see vanquished. That is why so many people had to read to the end of the book to get that story question answered: Will Ramius make it to America and freedom?

They had been hooked on a deeper, emotional level. They had been led to care about the outcome. It was important to their own state of emotions, their own sense of what was right and just, their own sense of mattering.

Engaging the interest of an audience around an issue of human need invests them in the story's outcome. They want to know how it will turn out. They have to know how it will turn out.

When someone has to finish your story to see how it turns out, your plot has fulfilled its purpose.

The writer who doesn't see the connection between a story, its characters, and plot risks introducing characters or plot devices that confuse what's at stake in the story. That confuses a reader's emotional response/desire to pursue the story's journey of feelings, thoughts and sense impressions.

The answer for the struggling writer is to see that a plot is generated by a strong, well-realized story. It is not a substitute for a story. Setting up a situation common to action films, "Who's going to get out of here alive," is plot-like. Lacking a story issue, however, such films struggle to engage a wide audience.

To create a great plot, start with your story promise. Understand how what's at stake in your story raises questions to which your audience desires answers. Understand that your plot should make the journey to get those answers potent and dramatic. When you start to write, be clear about the obstacles that block the movement of your story. How those obstacles force your characters to act with ever greater determination if they would shape the outcome of your story's outcome.

That's when you'll be told, "Wow! Loved your plot! How did you think of it?"


Bill Johnson is office manager for Willamette Writers, an organization for writers of the Pacific Northwest with 1,200 members. Bill helps organize WW's annual conference that will be August 4-6th, 2006, Portland, Oregon; info, www.willamettewriters.com



Writer's Online Courses
My Main Website
Enspiren Press

On Plot

In my experience beginning writers are usually stronger in one of two aspects of storytelling. The first is characters and character development. This is the kind of story driven by people, their choices, and what they do with their situations. While I love this story (and in honesty, this is probably my stronger side too), I also recognize the problems it can pose.

When writing a character driven story, it’s very easy to get lost. Sometimes the character won’t have any idea what they should do next, and you won’t know what you want to happen because “The character is supposed to tell me.” Sorry, Charlie, even characters get stumped sometimes. That’s why, as the creator of this world, you owe it to your characters to be a student of the second side of storytelling, which is plot.

A plot driven story is only a little bit different, but it’s amazing how much trouble it can cause some people. The plot driven story is about events that happen in your world, and how your characters respond to them.
Think about some of your favorite fictions. Usually the powerful stories, the ones that stick with us, are the results of impossible events. Whether it is an addictive ring of power and the war its owner starts, the imbalance of the force in the universe, or the bite of a radioactive spider, events happen and then drive the characters to their destiny.

So how do you write stories like this? The answer is a simple shift in mindset. It will feel awkward at first, as most new things do, but in the end it will increase your ability to write, character OR plot, with a new outlook.

Try this exercise. Sit down to write (which you should be doing every day and preferably around the same time each day) and make a list of major events. You can either make them up or just record actual ones. Make them disastrous, because disaster is ALWAYS easier to write. Once you’ve done that, think of a character that this event would affect deeply. Start out with a template, like a job or a relationship, and then build from there. Decide exactly what you want to happen with your disaster in detail. If it’s a building collapsing, figure out which floor goes first, where the pipes break, and whatever affect this will have on your character. After you’ve got the stages of trouble all set on paper, then and only then, start figuring out how your character will respond to it. Then start writing. Voila, you have a plot driven story. Congratulations, and be sure to save what you write.

Matt Barrington is the operator of The Fiction Writer's Feast, a free resource for writers and aspiring writers.



Writer's Online Courses
My Main Website
Enspiren Press

Essence Of Character - Seven Steps To Creating Characters That Write Themselves

Creating characters that are believable takes time and discipline. Creating dynamically real individuals and not imposing your own thoughts and impressions upon them is not easy to do, and is often the difference between a novel or screenplay that sits in a closet and one that finds its way around town and into the hands of audiences. Spending your time building your characters before they enter the world of your story makes the process of writing an easier and more enjoyable ride, and creates a finished product that agents, publishers, producers and readers can truly be excited by.

You must first agree to operate from the understanding that the three-dimensionality of your characters is not created magically. Talent equals discipline multiplied by time and you must practice (daily) the art of developing your characters. As a development executive with LA Film Lab Entertainment (a literary development and production company), I have developed a framework to assist you in creating rich and complex characters. The complexity that you desire comes through 1) labeling their desire essences, 2) labeling their fear essences, 3) getting specific about their past, 4) labeling their behavior, 5) raising their stakes, 6) not meddling in their lives, and 7) letting them play. Asking provoking questions in line with these steps, answering them thoroughly, and then repeating the process, provides constant individual growth in your characters that mirrors life. Now let's take each step in turn:

1. Label the Desire Essences of each of your main characters: The first key to deepening your work is finding the major motivators in the lives of your characters that drive their actions. We all have deep aspirations that drive our choices, our thoughts, our actions and reactions. These needs are what differentiate us from one another and we will refer to them as "Desire Essences." Some examples of DESIRE ESSENCES are: the desire to be intellectually brilliant; the desire to be socially famous; the desire to hide from the world; the desire to belong to a group; the desire to be loved; the desire to party; the desire to die.

2. Label the Fear Essences of each of your main characters: What is at the root of each of your characters' darker sides? For every desire they have they should also exhibit the antithetical fear of failing at that desire. These fears will battle their aspirations for control over their behavior. Labeling and understanding the darker sides of your characters is imperative to creating the dimensional and imperfect characters you are after. Some examples of FEAR ESSENCES are: the fear of being stupid; the fear of being ordinary; the fear of being socially exposed; the fear of being rejected by a group; the fear of being loathed; the fear of being boring; the fear of having to face life.

3. Get specific with your Backstory: Human behavior is made up of a string of moments and reactions to those moments. A character's current behavior is a battle between fear and desire and their immediate choices are made based on very specific (yet unconscious) experiences from their past - experiences that leave imprints much like DNA. Though your characters should be unconscious of these past experiences that are influencing them, you the writer must create these in your preparation of their backstory be fully aware of them. Here is an example of what won't benefit you vs. what will when getting specific with backstory:

Bad example of getting specific: Rachel is a pretty girl who thinks she is unattractive. She prefers to live in her books as opposed to being with friends or family. Her father has abused her sexually throughout her youth. She hates attention.

Better example of getting specific: On her graduation day, at a party her Mother is throwing for her, Rachel's sexually abusive father shows up drunk and congratulates her, hugging her too closely, grabbing her rear end with both hands, and calling her pretty in front of a room full of her friends and family. She runs away humiliated and hides in her room, escaping into one of her fantasy books. That night she moves out to stay with a friend and doesn't tell her friends where she is going. Two weeks later she finds out through another friend that her father died in a car accident. He had been drunk.

In the better example of getting specific, the reader can have a visceral reaction to the words. This is caused by the detail. The generality of the bad reaction is logical, but lifeless. In the better example it is easy to determine what the essences of our leading lady might be: desire to hide, maybe even desire to die, desire to live in her books, desire to be valued for her intellect instead of her body, fear of loneliness, fear of her appearance, fear of the opposite sex, fear of losing a loved one, fear of being abandoned.

4. Describe their Current Behavior: Take the essences and the specific examples you have now created and determine what kind of behavior your characters might exhibit as a result. Don't limit yourself with these, but rather excite yourself with the possibilities.

Simple examples from our leading lady - a woman who: hides her body; avoids friends from her past; mistrusts anyone who comments favorably on her appearance; desires to control her education and her intellect; avoids alcohol.

5. Raise the stakes: Emotions are extreme. Play in the realm of this extreme when dealing with the fears and ambitions of your characters. These essences are all encompassing; meaning that we spend our lifetimes with them. Don't cheat your characters by being afraid to raise the stakes as high as you can. Needing to find a precious stone to sell to an art dealer by midnight to raise the financing to save your character's mother's house before the bank takes it away from her tomorrow is exciting! Look back at your own life and think of how seriously you take your essences - when your essences are threatened will you fight to extremes to defend them, just as when they are fulfilled, do you enjoy some of your greatest moments in life? Play in the realm of the extreme. Raise the stakes. Your essences are life and death to you - let them be that way to your characters.

6. Don't meddle: Of course you might be saying to yourself, "How do I not meddle - I'm the writer!" But a truthful story is going to grow from your willingness to let your characters make their own decisions based on how you have defined them (which after these exercises will be in great depth). As their parent, you have to let your children go; this is the point at which your story truly begins. DO NOT MEDDLE IN THEIR LIVES. Continually remind yourself - it's not about you. You just serve the story. Let your characters make their own decisions. If you ever find yourself not knowing what decision they might make - question your homework and rework their essences, behaviors and stakes until their choice becomes obvious.

7. Let your characters play: Once you have developed several characters by labeling their essences, getting specific, defining their behavior, and raising the stakes, you are ready to begin to let them interact. It's like the first day at a new school; ripe with possibility. When properly developed, there is no way to predict how your characters will behave in any given situation, but they are so full of life and their own agendas that they are ready to interact with other characters who have been developed to the same level. If you have done the work to get to this place - this is where your characters will begin to write themselves.

Follow these steps to create the richer characters you want to be writing.

Find the Essences:

To find the essences of your characters, you have to look to their history and their genetics. Just like real people, your characters' current behavior is defined by their DNA combined with experiences you create in their past. We all have the basic fears and ambitions of survival, shelter, and food, so when working on these essences focus on the ones that really drive each character. Consider ethnicity, religious beliefs, and major life events. Address sex, drugs, music, parents, siblings, education, appearance and intelligence for sure.

Start by writing out twenty DESIRE ESSENCES that feel right for each main character. Then determine one polar opposite of each DESIRE to create your twenty FEAR ESSENCES. Go back and toss the ones that you now feel less attached to. Repeat and refine the process until you have at least ten of each for each character that really excite you.

Get specific about Backstory:

Get specific about how your character's essences have come to be. Create definitive moments in your characters' lives that detail when these fears and desires were initiated. Come up with five supporting examples of moments in their lives when each of these essences was tested and eventually vindicated in the name of the fear or in the name of the desire. Failure vindicates the fear and success vindicates the desire. Write at least one half page of text supporting each -Yes that will give you a total of twenty-five pages of essence work. Do the work.

10 Essences (a desire and a fear for each) x 5 samples for each = 50 descriptions (each a half page)

Label the Current Behavior:

Using their essences and their specific past, come up with ten sample behaviors for each character. Simple example: a character who has a desire to hide and a fear of being publicly humiliated, has a specific past incident of continually having their pants pulled down in public by a sibling. The current behavior - they might always wear a belt, or might always look behind themselves in a very specific attempt to never be humiliated again.

Raise the stakes:

After looking over your newly created examples, it should be easy to determine some issues that might be going on in their lives that would increase or decrease their stress. A decrease in stress generally excites people to take greater chances, while an increase in stress tends to shorten people's fuses.

List five possible increases or decreases in your characters stress level.

Don't meddle and let them play:

Now put two of your fully developed characters into the same room. Implement two or three increases in stress to one character and two or three decreases in stress to the other character and let them bounce off of one another. Go into this exercise with no preconceived notions of what might happen. If you have done your homework, they should affect one another.*

*If you need a jumpstart - add an element that one needs from the other and give the other a strong reason for not wanting to provide what that character needs. Could be tangible or emotional.


Corey Blake is President of Writers of the Round Table Inc. (http://www.writersoftheroundtable.com) a literary development and author management company. Corey consults and contributes writing to best-selling authors, leadership coaches and business executives. This article first appeared in Writer Mag.


Writer's Online Courses
My Main Website
Enspiren Press

Character Development Secrets - 7 Steps to Developing Real People Who Bring your Fiction to Life - 2

Part Two: Creating the Past and Shaping the Present

The quality of your characters will form the foundation you desire for a strong story. In this four-part series, we're looking at ways to develop three-dimensional, dynamic, story driving characters. Using the following seven-step framework, you can develop rich, complex, and multi-dimensional individuals:

1) Label their desire essences

2) Label their fear essences

3) Get specific about their past

4) Label their behavior

5) Raise their stakes

6) Don't meddle in their lives

7) Let them play

In the previous article, we looked at the first two steps in this process: 1. Label their desire essences and 2. Label their fear essences.

In this installment, we'll explore your characters' backstories - where they came from - and then determine how their histories shape their behaviors. As we continue to the next two steps, you'll take a great leap in crafting your characters into engaging parts of your story.

3. Get specific with your backstory

Human behavior is made up of a string of moments and the reactions to those moments. A character's present is carved out by her past. Current behavior is a battle between fear and desire, and your character's immediate choices are based on very specific (yet unconscious) experiences from her past

Corey Blake is President of Writers of the Round Table Inc., a unique literary development and author management company that assists best-selling authors, directors, executives, business owners, magazines, publishers and producers in crafting significant written works and bringing them to market. Visit Writers of the Round Table to receive a free quote on how we can help you bring YOUR characters to life!





Writer's Online Courses
My Main Website
Enspiren Press

How Do Your Characters Communicate?

Writers need to learn the art of communication. It is vital to the success of their books. It is also vital to character development. Good communication is one way to earn respect for a hero. Poor communication is a great way to make a character look weak.

In fact, a character can improve their communication style as they progress through their book, improving the 'reader's' impression of the character and strengthening the character growth arc...all without giving the character one of the over worn and outdated problems (ie, surviving abuse, afraid of commitments, etc.)




The Six Rules of Effective Communication

Effective communication is vital if you wish people to understand your viewpoint. It becomes even more crucial in professional settings, as fierce competition means that customers must be convinced that your products are superior to your rival's. Unless you effectively communicate the features and advantages of your product, your customers are likely to walk out the door. Communication is equally important in your interactions with suppliers, coworkers, managers, and investors.

The following six rules will help you communicate more effectively, reduce conflict in your organization, and become a better leader.

Rule #1: Organize your thoughts.

Jumbled thoughts lead to incoherent speech. Organizing your thoughts systematically is the first step to effective communication. You should be clear about the message that you want to convey, and it is helpful to have a framework for the conversation. Communication is a dynamic process, so you need to organize and re-organize your thoughts accordingly as the conversation progresses. This presence of mind is essential.

Rule #2: Plan the conversation ahead of time.

When you think through a subject, try to envision what sort of reaction you will evoke. Plan out the different directions that the conversation may go, and prepare your ground accordingly. It helps to consider the personality and behavior of the person with whom you are dealing. How does s/he prefer to work, what is his/her behavioral style? Answering these questions allows you to tailor your approach accordingly.

Rule #3: Be aware of your nonverbal signals.

Did you know much of our communication happens through nonverbal signals? The message you convey through your gestures, body language, and facial expressions will play a huge role in the response you elicit. For this reason, your verbal and nonverbal message need to be consistent; otherwise, you will send mixed signals and not achieve the outcome you desire.

Rule #4: Be succinct.

As they say, less is more. This holds true for communication as well. Your goal in communication is to convey a message and create a certain response. Emphasize your key points simply, and respond to questions directly. Repeating yourself and reiterating your points will only detract from your message.

Rule #5: Demonstrate how the other person will benefit.

When you show how the other person will directly benefit from your offer, you are very close to convincing him/her. To do this, you must highlight the rewards of your offer, and explain how they will improve his or her life. For example, instead of explaining that a new product is more efficient, you might emphasize how much time or money the customer will save. This is the fifth great rule for becoming a good communicator.

Rule #6: Be a good listener.

The importance of listening to the other party and understanding his/her viewpoint is often overlooked. Effective communication is two-way process; if you adopt a one-way attitude, you will fail to create a rapport with your counterpart. By making the other person feel that you value their participation in the conversation, and that you are addressing his/her needs, you make him/her much more willing to accommodate your position. In practice, this means that you must listen patiently and converse accordingly.


Barbara Stennes CSP is president and owner of Resources Unlimited a consulting firm based in Des Moines Iowa. She is widely recognized as an expert on team building customer service creativity and innovation. To learn how Barbara can help your organization please visit http://deBonoOnline.com.














Writer's Online Courses
My Main Website
Enspiren Press

Genre Promises - Epic Fantasy

Most authors have no idea what defines their genre. They are oblivious to the things that make their genre unique, what attracts people to their genre. When their books remain unpublished, they claim that publishing is elitist and politically based.

Take some time to learn the truth about your genre, and you'll win a publishing contract.


Epic Fantasy - Its Really About the Meaning of Life


Since the beginning of time mankind has made up epic fantasy stories in the form of myths to reflect his role in the universe. The oldest piece of written work is the Epic of Gilgamesh. It was inscribed on stone tablets a thousand years before the Iliad was written and it is in the genre of epic fantasy. Since this piece was written many more have followed.

We are all familiar with the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece, or the story of King Arthur and the Holy Grail. We are also all familiar with the quest of Bilbo Baggins. Why have these stories and others like them survived for so long? Why are they so fully engraved in our psyche as a race? Is it because they are fun stories? It is true that they are good stories and grand adventures but they also convey a deeper meaning about what it is to be human. And this search for a deeper meaning has been with humans since the beginning of time.

The ancient Greeks created myths that revolved around heroes facing the wrath of a variety of gods. This helped them to understand their place in the world and it applied meaning to their lives relative to the world they lived in. In medieval times humanity changed. The Renaissance brought with it a new understanding of the world we live in. And that new understanding brought new questions. No longer were we subject to the whims of a variety of gods. We, as people, gained a new control of our own lives and we came to the realization that it wasnt gods that controlled us but it was us who controlled ourselves. This made us look inward. It caused us to seek out the things within ourselves that made us like the old gods. This new outlook was reflected in the epic fantasy myths of the times. Heroes looked inside themselves. They took great strides in making themselves better people. They believed that there was a right way to be and this belief is epitomized by the code of the knight.

There are no dragons to slay, there are no more knights, and there are no princesses to rescue. How do these stories of heroic quests apply to you today?

Each character in these stories is given a task of a seemingly impossible nature. And each character has to find his way through a world wrought with dangers, difficulties and obstacles. The parallel here is obvious and we all travel a similar road to that of Gilgamesh and Jason but this isnt the real reason why epic fantasy is so relevant to our lives. This kind of conflict and searching is found in just about every piece of fiction and in every medium. The secret to why epic fantasy rises above all the others is hidden within each story itself.

Joseph Campbell, in his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces, outlined the twelve steps that each hero must take on his personal journey to realizing his quest. One critical early step that must be made is the meeting with the mentor. The mentor himself has traveled his own personal journey, learned many lessons along the way and he imparts this wisdom on our hero. Our hero learns some valuable lessons from someone who has been there and done that. This is exactly what epic fantasy does for you. It works as a mentor.

In a beautiful sense of folding in on itself the hero of an epic fantasy story becomes a mentor to you. You travel along with the hero and you learn the lessons that he learns. You learn the value of trust or the danger of greed. And most importantly you learn the value of persisting in your personal quest and following your heart because in the end you see the reward.

Read the stories of the epic fantasy hero and listen to the lessons that he can teach you. Maybe there are no more Dragons and no more damsels in distress but you are in the middle of an epic quest called your life and you must follow this quest to the end. This quest is the search to find the meaning in your life and epic fantasy is the mentor that will help you find it.

Will Kalif is the author of two epic fantasy novels. You can visit his website and learn about creativity, video game design, writing or classical guitar: http://www.stormthecastle.com Or visit his epic fantasy website: http://www.epic-fantasy.com



Writer's Online Courses
My Main Website
Enspiren Press

Character Development

All characters need a weakness when they start their novel. Most writers (99.9%) of them create a problem such as rape surviver, or childhood abuse surviver. But, if you read the best sellers - how often do you see these. In fact, it is possible to create an emotionally healthy character, but still give them flaws...just use your imagination.



Insomnia in popular culture

Insomnia has been a featured disorder from many factors such as books and movies. Two cult classics one is a book titled Insomnia written by horror novelist Stephen King and the other is the Robert DeNiro film from 1976 Taxi Driver. There have been 28 songs written and recorded about insomnia and among the artists who recorded a song were Vanessa Carlton, Green Day, Radiohead, and Tenacious D. The most popular film based on the Chuck Palahniuk novel that was a hit about 6 years ago was Fight Club with Edward Norton and Brad Pitt and the lead character was manic insomniac. This seems to be the most common form of sleeping disorder to the point that movies and songs were made about this problem.

People aren't aware that this is a problematic issue for those who suffer from this. It's not healthy to go without sleep because it can affect your immune system making you prone to catching things like the flu and colds. Not getting any rest can cause severe disorientation because your body wasn't given an opportunity to rest and recuperate.

This is what drove the designer coffee movement up like the sprawl of coffee shops from Starbucks, Gloria Jeans, Seattle's Best, and Caribou Coffee since you had a lot of late nighters consisting of mainly people working in hospitals and college students who had to pull late nighters and cram sessions and needed to stay awake so when coffee wasn't working they bought this over the counter pill called Vivarin which is equal to about 2 cups of coffee when you take the prescribed dosage.

It's usually not a good idea to take Vivarin because it can interfere with your body's ability to sleep and rest normally. You'll find more college students getting sick a lot because they're forcing their bodies to do things that isn't normal like staying up super late and not getting at least 6 hours of sleep. Rest also provides your body's digestive system to rest which makes up about 70% of your immune system so it's ideal to sleep when necessary and taking short naps also work as a re-energizer to give you a burst of energy that works much better than coffee or caffeine pills.

How to Write Historical Novels

There is more to the historical novel than romance placed in the past. A historical novel is not a romance. The historical romance, and the historical novel, are fundamentally different. The novels have different structures, different premise, different character arcs. If you want to learn how to write a good romance then study North and South. It has everthing that defines the genre.


John Jakes' "North and South"

I have read the book of John Jakes "North and South". This is a historical novel writing at its best. When the book was published, there was so much ado about the book. The novel became a real bestseller, one of the greatest novels in American History. The New York Times wrote about the book: 'On the history of the U.S. book publishing, there has never been such a success story quite like that of John Jakes.'

Bravo! Fantastic! Superb! As a bonus for the hours that it takes to complete such a monumental book, you will gain a first-hand knowledge of life at West Point in the early and mid-1800s… a peak at the Texas frontier, a vacation in a posh cottage at Newport, experience the savagery of war in Mexico, suffer the suspense of both the Charleston Battery and beleaguered Fort Sumter before the mortal fire that launched a war… It has been a long time since I enjoyed the book so much.

The book starts with a brief prologue Two Fortunes. The first one is the Charcoal Burner's Boy. It happened in Ireland in 1686 when a sixteen-year-old boy Joseph killed in a fight his stepfather, who constantly abused his mother and Joseph. He didn't want to let the boy study who was at the same time working at the charcoal burner. The boy was very eager to study; he had a great success at work where he learnt a lot about iron. He already realized that iron was very important for the future of a mankind and he would be able to make a lot of money if he had only known how to produce it. After he had accidentally murdered his stepfather and his mother died (she was killed by the drunkard), Joseph had to run away. He ran away on a ship that was sailing to the New World – America. He signed a contract that he would be slave worker for the first seven years, but after he would be able to develop his life on his own. Joseph takes another last name – Hazard.

There was another story in France. The aristocrat Charles de Main, who had to escape to the New World because of his religion – Protestant – which had been proclaimed wrong in France. As he didn't want to change his religious and political views he had to run away otherwise his family would have been put into a jail. He runs away to the South America and settles in South Carolina, where there had been a lot of Indian slaves. The Americans were at war with Indians, and the captured ones they turned into their slaves. Charles wanted to start a new business – growing rice on plantations – but it was a very hard work, which had to be done in water and almost unbearable conditions. There was the only nation that could do this kind of job and which was used to it, they were the Negroes from Africa. Thus it was the beginning of slavery on the South.

The next chapter starts with the events of spring of 1842. There are two young boys of sixteen years old, Orry Main form the southern state South Carolina and Charles Hazard from the northern state of Pennsylvania. They became the cadets of the Military Academy, West Point, which was considered to be the best for that time in the United States. The boys became very close friends as they had gone through the trials of four year studying at the academy. There was another man in the Academy who was a year older than the mentioned characters and became their first and only enemy. It was Bent who was very fat and considered himself to be superior. They became real rivals, the enemies till the end of their lives.

Orry's family lived on the South, had rice plantations and owned slaves. Niggers, as they called them. Charles' family from the North had iron producing business, and lots of iron plants. Of course there were no slaves, only hired workers. There have never been any argues between the two friends until the following events.

The first war started right after their graduation from the academy. The war was with the Mexicans for the new state of Texas, which Americans wanted to have as theirs. It was the first boys' experience of the real battles. At first they were so eager and excited to go to war and struggle for the country, but after they had seen the horror of war they became scared. This war was quickly finished and won by the Americans. During one of the battles in which Orry, Charles and Bent took part; Orry saved Bent from being murdered by the Indians who were on the Mexican part. In this battle Orry lost his left hand. He stayed crippled for the rest of his life. Yes, he saved Bent's life that had started feeling even more outrageous hatred to the friends. As Orry lost his hand he could not continue his service in the army any more. He went to South Carolina to take care of family business, growing rice. Charles as well dismissed himself from the army and came back to his mother state to run the iron producing business.

The article was produced by the writer of masterpapers.com.Sharon White is a senior writer and writers' consultant in Write dissertation writing

How to Write a Fantasy Novel

I have at least one student enter my course at writersonlinecourses on novel writing. They want to write fantasy novels, because they heard that it is one of the hotest genres. But, what they don't realize is that fantasy has a balance, a formula, a structure - just like other genres.



How to Write an Epic Fantasy Novel – A No Nonsense Guide to getting the job done

The key to writing a real epic fantasy novel lies in the word “epic”. But this doesn’t just mean big in scale, scope, and size. An epic fantasy novel doesn’t have to be a thousand page doorstopper. It has to be epic in its ambitious reach for finding answers to the big questions in life. This is the true and hidden goal of epic fantasy. It is a vehicle for understanding what life is about. And even though the story may have dragons, and take place on an unbelievable world that doesn’t really exist it needs to be applicable to the human condition.

So this is the first thing you have to do when writing an epic fantasy novel. Decide what you want to say about life or what important topic you want to explore. Write this down and keep it in mind throughout your whole novel writing experience. And remember that you don’t have to come right out and explain your theme. It is usually better, and more rewarding for the reader, if you reveal the theme slowly and allow him or her to discover it.

Some common themes you may want to explore in epic fantasy include the examination of the nature of good and evil, the ultimate meaning of life, the quest to understand oneself, or the challenge of making the transition from childhood to adulthood.

Writing a book can be joyous, yet hard work, and you may need some motivation to get you through the whole task and here is all the motivation you will need. Write your theme down on a big piece of paper and pin it to the wall near your computer. Start it out like this: “My novel is all about: ”. Then put in your theme or themes. Here is an example: “My novel is all about how adversity is the most important thing in life. It is through adversity that we each become a better person. Gold comes out of the ground dirty and ugly. It is by going through the fire that it is purified and made beautiful. And I am going to put my main character through the fire!” Whenever writing becomes difficult for you this will be a source of inspiration because you have something to say and your novel is how you are going to say it. The world truly deserves to hear your perspective on the big questions in life.

When doing the actual writing of the prose of the novel I recommend you set yourself a very distinct goal. This is imperative and the goal I recommend you set is that you will write part of the story every single day until it is done. It is even ok if you just write one sentence or even if you write a whole passage that you know you are going to delete tomorrow. The important thing is that you write every day.

I don’t recommend you set goals that are pinned to dates or word counts. Dates can be tricky because a novel is a fluid thing. Your novel could end up being fifty thousand words or two hundred thousand words. This is because you are exploring a theme and more ideas and angles are going to come to you as progress. And I don’t recommend pinning a daily or weekly word count to your writing because writing is a creative process and you could end up with just a lot of filler. Simply set yourself the goal of sitting down and writing every day. This will keep the writing going, keep the story moving, and insure your improvement. At some point in the middle of the novel you are going to look back and realize that you are in a routine and everything is flowing quite smoothly.

I have two final bits of advice for you when it comes to writing your epic fantasy novel. First off I recommend you keep a spiral bound notebook for ancillary information and notes. This is where you keep ideas, plot lines, character names, places and all your ancillary information organized. As your novel, and the world it portrays grows, you will need to manage a lot of information and over the course of months or even a year or more of writing you are going to forget things. But a reader could potentially go through your novel in just a few hours. He or she is going to see logical flaws. Write down the details in a spiral bound notebook and refer to it often.

The last bit of advice I have for you is that you should never rely on the fantasy aspect of your world as an escape route. What I mean is that there is nothing worse than watching the main character of a novel getting out of a tricky spot by whipping out a super-duper magical spell that the reader never even knew about. Make sure there are rules in your world and make sure your characters follow them. You are drawing parallels to real life and in real life there are tangible rules to everything. So create rules in your world and follow them.

An epic fantasy novel is an exploration of the big questions in life. You have a very valuable point of view about these big questions and there is an audience out there that is very willing to listen. Write yourself a clear statement of what you want to say and then write toward that goal every day. Before long you will have a written work that you will be proud of and that will enrich other peoples lives by shedding light on the human condition. epic-fantasy.com

How to Write

I've been working this weekend with one of my editors on an authors submission. The story was good, but what the AC editor didn't realize was the story had no 'real' plot and no antagonist. This is an editor's nightmare. First, because the authors play prima donna and make life miserable for editors. Second, because the editor must fix the problem - very few authors know how to fix a major problem like this.

This is a major reason why authors remain unpublished. It doesn't take a very advanced writer's course to learn that all books must have an antagonist. In fact, any of the 'idiot's guide' books will tell you that. They will also explain what a plot is and give you enough information to build one.

This author has at least six months of rewrites ahead of them, and Enspiren Press will not touch another of this author's books - putting them right back at square one.

Make Money Writing

One of the best ways to make money writing is to write reviews. It doesn't matter what types of reviews you want to write, you can write everything from book reviews to life insurance quotes.

It takes so long to write a book that many writers need to fill in the years before their first royalty statement arrives. However, there is another reason why I suggest that writers start writing as freelance writers.

A more important reason to start writing for pay is that it will help you learn how to work with editors and publishers. Many writers get their first writing contract, only to loose it because they are so afraid of publishers and editors that they stress out and are unable to give their best work.

It is much better to have been published, and validated as a writer, long before you submit your first book.

How to Get Published: Fiction Writing Mistakes

A couple months ago my computer system crashed. Because I had moved to a new town, I took my computer to a new repair technician. An appalling $250.00 later, my computer was returned to me. As I scanned down the list of tasks they had performed, I could not see one thing that I could not have done myself. Not only did they perform tasks I could have executed myself, they used the software I had already installed on my own computer. I sat stunned for a while, then had to laugh. I have been trying to teach my writing students this same lesson for more than four years. With a little knowledge, you can edit your own novels and find out why they are not published.

“How do I get my novel published?” If I had to guess, I would say that ½ of the 3000 students I have taught ask me this question at one time or another. I can usually offer them a quick, easy answer. In many cases, the answer is so easy they reject it as a brush off. But, the truth is, it is often very simple things, and easy to repair problems, that keeps fiction novels from being published by a reputable publisher.

Read over the following list carefully. Learn to understand what these errors are. Use this list as a checklist. I tell unpublished authors to edit their novel for these things, one at a time. Yes, this is a lengthy editing exercise. But, compared to the amount of time it takes to submit a manuscript once, and have it rejected once, the amount of time spent editing will be well spent. By editing this way, one problem at a time, you will learn to avoid these mistakes as you write the first draft, making future novels easier to write.

Learning to eliminate these errors is one-half the battle of becoming a published author. The craft of writing is half learning how to write, and half learning to avoid the things listed below.

I have edited a lot of student manuscripts, both as a freelancer, teacher, and contracted editor for a publishing company and found that the errors listed below comprise at least 90 percent of the problems which keep novels from being published. Most are easy to avoid, if you are aware of them, and can be fixed or avoided easily, once you can spot them.

Read, Read, Read

There is one exercise in my course where writers plan to send their first manuscript. Almost every writer gives me a ‘copy and paste’ listing out of a publisher’s directory. If you have no idea what a publisher is releasing, then how will you know if your book fits their idea of a good book? Read their recent releases. This one exercise can eliminate most of the rejection letters writers receive. Almost unanimously, students who take my advice and read a couple books released by their prospective publishing company, thank me for helping them waste their time. Their book did not fit what that company thought was a publishable novel. Something in their novel was different from what that publisher released. It could have been their grammar style, voice, structure, characters, vocabulary, plots, or missing elements. A dozen things could make that publisher reject your novel. However, it does not mean your novel is not ready to submit.

One truth I have found is; Avid readers make the best writers. This is true, as long as you consistently read novels in the genre, style, and voice you want to read.

If you are an avid reader, then look at the back of the books you are reading. That is the best place to find a publisher.

Are You Ready to Submit

This is the biggest problem. It is the one reason why I tell authors to have a ‘fiction editor’ critique over their novels. It will cost about $200.00, but can save you dozens of rejection letters, maybe years of submitting and rejections, and a lot of heartbreak. However, it is necessary to find a good editor. Have they ever worked for a fiction publisher? How many published novels have they edited? A BA in English, or an ex-teacher will not help you write a marketable fiction novel. You would not ask a airplane mechanic to fix your car. You would never think about asking your neighbor who installs satellites to ‘take a look’ at your furnace because it is making a funny sound. But, every day people pay academic editors to edit their fiction. Or they ask ‘line editors’ to critique their novels when they should be asking ‘content editors’ to help them.

Most of the writers who send me a manuscript to edit or critique send me a first or second draft. The novel is full of grammar mistakes, plot holes, weak characters, and passive writing – which is different than passive voice. This is easy to solve. You will study the craft of writing, so why not learn how to edit?

Structure

It is easy to learn what a story arc is. It is easy to learn how to map a novel, and write your own story arc based on what is on today’s bestsellers lists. There are dozen’s of courses that teach ‘the blueprint of a novel’ and mapping. First, learn what the elements of a novel are. You can do that from any book. Then, find a few good examples of story arcs. Next, write out the events, elements, plot points, and character growth of the novel you are mapping. When done, make it look like the story arc, or make your own blueprint.

It takes about 20 hours to make your own story arc based on your genre, and current bestsellers. You can map anything, structure, plot, supporting plots, character growth, and sub-plots.

When writers rebel, stating that this is formula writing, or that this takes the creativity out of writing, I reply with this story. You have $15 000 which is earmarked for home renovations. Your best friend approaches you, all excited, and offers to do the work for you. You are confused, because your friend is a hairdresser. Would you give a hairdresser your $15 000 to do renovations on your house? What if friends did not want to know what style you were looking for, did not care about your color scheme, and had their own ideas about comfort and luxury? Would you give them your money? However, people ask publishers to do this every day.

Writers need to understand one fact. You are writing for the reader, not yourself. Reader’s demands drive the fiction publishing industry. If the reader does not like the novel, they will not buy it. And, readers do not want wild and crazy stories, they buy novels which promise a good reading experience.

Passive Voice, Passive Writing

This is the single most common error. New writers do not realize that passive writing creates ‘one degree of separation’ between the story and the reader. Passive voice is easy to catch with your grammar check. Passive writing is a little harder. Passive writing is narrative. Narration takes the reader out of the main character’s Point Of View (POV).

If this is your problem, then you need to take a course. If you are not sure, then look through your novel and ask these questions:

· Do characters actually do something, or does the sentence explain what the character did? Jill picked up her milk vs. Jill lifted the glass and took a sip of milk.
· Do you use these words: was, were, had, that, still, felt, noticed, saw, just, nice thought, up, down, beautiful, dark, tall, almost, very, down, up, behind, and pretty. If you find more than five of these words on your pages then you need to learn how to remove them. In many cases these words can be eliminated if you reconstruct the sentence so the main character’s actions are the subject of the sentence.
· Do you stop the action to explain why a character is doing something?
· Are you telling the reader a story? Or, are you writing down segment of the character’s life, as it happens, describing exactly what you, the writer, sees as it is happening?
· Do you use gerunds, ‘ing’, words instead of verbs?
· Do you use weak verbs? Jill ran vs. Jill’s feet pounded the pavement. Jill was angry vs. Jill slammed the door and stomped across the hall.
· Do you summarize? Look at the example above. You’ll notice that the passive examples are shorter than the active examples.
Passive voice is okay in dialogue. We talk in passive voice, so it is okay if your character’s talk in passive writing.

Summary Narrative

Direct narrative

Jill walked down the hall, descended the stairs, and pushed open the door. She crossed the parking lot and entered Kim’s Café

Summary narrative

Jill went to Kim’s Café.

HeadHopping

One scene, One Point Of View. You are not Nora Roberts. You cannot sell the number of novels she can. So, you cannot get away with writing like she does. Make sure every sentence in a scene comes out of the POV character’s head.

I tell my students to try this exercise. Pretend you are standing at a window looking in at the scene unfolding. Beside you stands a blind friend. You are going to tell her what is happening, as it happens. Do not summarize, paint pictures with words.

This is part one of this series of articles. None of the mistakes listed here are arbitrary. They are all based on rejection letters, discussions with publishers, and personal experience. You can break these rules. You can break these rules, as long as you realize that it will take longer to find a publisher who wants your novel. I do know authors who make these mistakes, and sell a novel or two a year. This is not unusual. The stronger your writing skills are, if you consistently study the craft of writing, and if you master the elements of a novel, then you will be able to break the rules and get away with it.

Suzanne James is a published author, a freelance editor who has worked as a publishing house editor, public speaker, and a teacher who teaches the craft of writing and line editing online at www.writersonlinecourses.com She publishes at www.inspiredauthor.com, www.authorsconnection.com . Her private website is www.writer-writer.com . And is the author of “Are You Ready to Submit: A Fiction Writer’s Self-editing guide?”

Getting Published:Tips For Young Writers

The task of getting published is one of the daunting aspects of writing. This can be difficult, if you want to get published by a traditional publishing house. It's not as difficult if you want to self-publish. In this article I will share with you the steps involved in getting your work published either traditionally or through self-publishing.

Mainstream publishers are often reluctant to accept work from young writers as anyone under 18 cannot sign a contract on their own and will require parental involvement. That is not to say you cannot submit to them but make sure your work is of high quality as you will be competing with adult writers. There are also several publishers that cater specifically to young writers, for a list of these, check out the book THE YOUNG WRITER'S GUIDE TO GETTING PUBLISHED. There are also several sites on the web that accept work from young writers such as http://stonesoup.com and Merlyn's pen. Make sure you edit your work thoroughly and follow the submission guidelines for publishers carefully.

Some publishers prefer that you send a query letter only at first describing your project. The query letter should be only one page long. If it is longer than that a busy editor will likely just throw it to one side. Think of the back cover summary you see on most books you buy, try to summarize what your book is about in a few words. This can be difficult but it must be done and done in a way that grabs an editor's attention.

Some publishers will allow you to submit a query letter and a few chapters of your work or your entire book. It is important that you use the correct font, you can't go wrong with courier new 12 pt and a double spaced manuscript. The query letter can use the same font but there is no need to double space it.

Let's now take a look at self publishing. Self publishing has become quite easy with the advent of self publishers like Lulu. At http://lulu.com you can publish your work for free. However lulu does take a small commission of anything you sell. Lulu also sells ISBN's for around $100 U.S. dollars. An ISBN will make your book available for international sale. It will become available to places like http://Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and hundreds of other distributors worldwide. When you self publish you set your own price and your age never becomes a factor as it will be with some traditional publishers.

If you decide to self publish everything falls into your hands, from editing to formatting. Lulu provides several services for these publishing details, however the costs can add up for young writers. The good news is that with patience and determination you can do it yourself. Lulu provides templates for formatting your book. If you can find a teacher, friend or parent to help you with editing you are well on your way without breaking the bank. Lulu makes making your book cover as easy as possible although you are responsible for finding your own image if you do not wish to use their images.

Finally, there is nothing like seeing your work in print and the opportunities for young writers are greater than ever.

Simone Mary is a teacher, writer and artist. She is the author of the eBook WRITING A STORY? WHAT EVERY WRITER SHOULD KNOW for more writing strategies and for a free copy of the eBook GET ON THE HONOR ROLL-TEST AND EXAM TAKING TIPS THAT WORK visit www.thereadingandwritingshop.com

The 7 Habits Of Highly Successful Authors

The more I read how the successful authors do it, the more I realize that, like successful people in all walks of life, they all do things in common that contribute enormously to their success. So how can we learn from successful authors to ensure our own success in 2008 and beyond?

We can start by adopting what I call "The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Authors". Adopt these 7 habits and you just may find that 2008 is the year you break through your own writing barriers!

1. Write about something you care about.

Whether you are writing fiction or non fiction, it is imperative you write about something you care about. The successful authors have some emotional connection to their content or story. If you are writing fiction, then write from a place of emotional familiarity. Your genuine experience will come through in your writing and your readers will connect with that. If you are writing a non fiction piece, choose a topic you are passionate or enthusiastic about. After all, if you are going to invest your precious time in what you are writing, you owe it to yourself to write with passion, feeling and enthusiasm.

2. Take risks

Don't be afraid to put your head, or your hands, on the chopping block when you write. In the world of fiction, you will have no doubt heard about creating characters that are "larger than life". That doesn't mean they are giants, it means they go above and beyond and take risks and make decisions that we would not have the courage to take in our own lives. After all, it's not about what we would do when we are tethered by the restrictions of polite behavior, it's what we would do in our wildest imaginations that make our readers sit up and take notice.

For the non fiction writer, it's time for you to take a stand. Take a view and stick with it, presenting your case with conviction and vigor. No one listens to someone who writes meekly, or with a wishy washy hand. Stick your neck out, and don't be afraid to get it chopped off. All the greatest journalists are the ones who are not afraid to speak their minds. Get into that habit and you're well on your way to being that next great journalist.

3. Plan

This is definitely the most ignored but equally the most important phase of the writing process. Planning is essential to the success of any undertaking and writing is no different. J.K. Rowling spent 5 years planning the entire Harry Potter series before she put pen to paper on a single word that appeared in the books. If you are writing a short story, novel or screenplay, planning the story before you begin writing is as essential to your success as ink in your pen or power to your laptop. There are some writers who claim to just start with an image or a sentence and then the whole thing just unfolds before them, but the writers who can do this with any degree of success are few and far between. Take the time to plan out your story, at the very least know where your beginning, middle and end are. The more planning you do, the more enjoyable the writing process and the less rewriting and editing you will have to do. The same goes for non fiction pieces, where it's always advisable to have an outline in place before you write your article or book.

4. Write every day

Joyce Carol Oates said that she would write, even when her soul felt as thin as a playing card, because somehow the act of writing would set it aright. There are going to be times when you just "don't feel like it", but like any other job or activity that is important to you, you must still, somehow, sit down every day and write. It has been said that it is by sitting down every day to write that one becomes a writer. Stephen King writes every day, including Christmas Day. Whether you are working on a book, story, article or nothing, still sit down and write something every single day. Even if you only write one page every day, that's 365 pages in a year and that's a whole book, isn't it? When you are a writer, you cannot not write, and writing is like breathing. You have an urge to put things down in print, so to keep that fresh and alive, you need to turn that tap on every day. It's more than practice. It's life.

5. Be prepared to work hard

I read somewhere once that John Grisham worked for 4 hours per day and made $20 million per year. Whether that is true or not (about the hours worked or the money he makes) doesn't matter. It is far more common to hear tales today of the world's most popular commercial authors working their proverbial butts off to keep up with deadlines, promotional commitments and the ins and outs of their everyday lives. Janet Evanovich gets up and writes every morning at 5am so she can get a full day's writing in before she has to answer mail, emails and deal with her other affairs of business, Jodi Picoult has a wonderful stay-at-home husband who allows her the luxury of writing through school pick ups and travelling for long periods to do research for her novels. J.K. Rowling also said she (misguidedly) thought that life as an author would be a Jane Austen-type of affair, sitting in a room overlooking a field and writing in anonymity. Of course her life is a whirlwind of book launches, movie premieres, media commitments, school commitments, and of course she has a family with three children. And while we all no doubt wish we had her "problems" it is very obvious that in the early part of the 21st century, the life of an author, successful or not, is a hard-working life. We are either working hard to get noticed, working hard to stay noticed, or working hard to avoid being noticed. Any way you look at it, if you have an aversion to hard work, you need to look elsewhere. Successful authors work hard. Period.

6. Persistence

It is said that persistence outstrips all other virtues. I have a card propped up on my desk that says, "Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go". Almost every successful author I have studied has said that their success is due, at least in some part, to pure persistence and determination. If your manuscript or article is rejected, rewrite it and submit it again. Or submit it to someone else. The first Harry Potter novel was rejected by every major publishing house before Bloomsbury picked it up for a song. Even so called "overnight successes" have a story behind them about how many times they were rejected, or how many novels or articles they've written that have no value other than as fire kindling. The authors that succeed are the ones who don't stop until they do. It's that simple. Never give up. Winners never quit, and quitters never win.

7. Let it go

And finally when you have written your article, book or screenplay and have submitted it for publication or approval, let it go. If you've done the best you can with it, let it go and trust that it will make its way to where it needs to be. And start something else straight away. Regardless of whether what you have submitted is accepted or rejected, you are a writer and a writer writes. Once you finish one manuscript start immediately on another. If the one you've sent is picked up, they'll be happy that you've got something new already, and if not you're well on your way to finishing your next manuscript.

So those are the 7 Habits of Highly Successful Authors. Adopt these habits yourself, and before you know it, you too will join their ranks!


Suzanne Harrison is the bestselling author of 4 e-books and courses on creative writing, short story and novel writing. She is also the Director of Writers Central, the innovative online creative writing school, dedicated to creating great storytellers. Visit her at http://www.writerscentral.com.au

How Long Is Too Long To Market A Book?

So how long is too long to market a book? According to some studies (both formal and informal) marketing (and seeing the results in the form of book sales) can take anywhere from six months to two years, it all depends on what you want to get out of it.

Ideally though, you should plan to market your book ongoing -- if, that is, being an author is a career choice and not a hobby. If it's a hobby then don't put any more time into it than you have to, or you might not choose to market it at all. For some, having the finished book is sufficient. But generally authors don't write and publish a book just to see it "done;" they publish it to further dreams of seeing their careers flourish. If that's the case then your marketing plan should last as long as your career does and hopefully, that's a really long time.

But how long should you stick to marketing one book before moving onto the next? The answer depends on a lot of things. Topic, for one, will often drive the wheels of a campaign and it's often said that the best way to market your first book is with your second and third and forth and well, you get the idea. But now comes the most challenging question: if you're extending a marketing campaign beyond what you originally had on your marketing outline, what on earth will you do to promote it?

If your book is new and your promotional wheels are just hitting full steam the answer to how you might promote your book should be easy. But if it's a year down the road and you feel you've done everything you can do to market your book you might be asking yourself: what's next? This is a great time to assess what you've done, what's worked and what hasn't. It's often in our nature to stare at a closed door begging for it to open, but if the doors you're knocking on still aren't opening, then perhaps it's time to move on to marketing items better suited to your book.

By this I mean that when you go through and evaluate all you've done, it might be easy to say, "You know, I spent a lot of time on this and it's still not doing anything for me, I'll think I'll invest more time on it and see what happens." This might seem like a good idea. Certainly the folks at Oprah might not want to hear from you the first 20 times you pitched but on 21, you could strike gold. The likelihood is, however, that you're just barking up the wrong tree and need to move onto greener pastures.

For example, let's say you've done some speaking engagements in the past year and every time you do them you get tons of new sign-ups for your newsletter, you sell lots of books and best of all, you get asked back! So why don't you do more of them? Well, probably because the rest of your book marketing is taking up so much time that you're unable to devote as much time to this as you can. Now you're in a perfect position. Why? Because you can dump the stuff that's not working so well and focus on the things that are working well, like your speaking engagements. The same is true for media, if you get a lot of it when you're pitching it, then why not pitch more?

For many of us, deciding what to do and when to do it can be confusing, but after you've spent months doing everything you've ever read or heard about, the obvious successes start to clarify themselves and then, what you need to do becomes crystal clear.

If you've only got one book to promote, here are a few tips that might help extend the life of a campaign and give you more ways to market:

* Creating spin-off products: special reports, eBooks and audio product are a all a great way to get some additional mileage out of your book. Creating products that lead to a product line can help leverage more sales. Often when consumers buy one product in a line, they'll buy all of them.

* Speaking events: speaking on your book's topic can really lengthen a campaign. By setting up speaking engagements you're getting the message out there on your book, selling books to the audience and keeping the wheels on your campaign turning.

* Gather your evergreens: an "evergreen" is a topic that's consistently viable from year to year. This means that if you have a news peg on the topic of Labor Day, you can trot this pitch out year after year and the media will love it. Understanding and building these evergreens into your campaign will greatly help extend your marketing campaign.

* Updating your book: with the exception of fiction, most books could stand a refresher every so often. For some books it's yearly, while others can wait a bit longer. The updated version is a great way to capture additional promotion. I update my books yearly and provided that I've added new content (and not just changed a few URL's) I will re-promote each of these as they come out -- just like I would a new title.





Author: Penny Sansevieri

The Simple 5 Step Secret To Great Fiction

Stephen King says he starts his novels with a "What if?" question. What if a woman and child are trapped in a car by a rabid dog? What if a family pet buried in a Pet Semetary came back to life? What if a young girl could start fires with her mind?

I have also heard many other bestselling novelist such as Jodi Picoult, Janet Evanovich and Nicolas Evans lay claim to the same thing.

And I have heard others say they just saw an image in their mind, or had a persistent sentence knocking on the inside of their brains, and they just followed that to where it lead them.

And while their insight and tutelage is invaluable, when I was a budding writer it left me with another question.

What's next?

It's all good and fine to have a starting point. In fact a starting point is imperative. But in answering the question of "What next?" you will lift your novel from "What if?" to "Howzat!"

So in answer to the "What next?" question, I defined the five essential elements of any good story, whether it's a novel, a short story, a play or a screenplay. Use these five elements to plan your story and you're guaranteed to write a bestseller everytime.

Step One: Desire

It is essential that your main character want something. Even if it's only a glass of water, they must have an "object of desire" to pursue. It can be anything from a way of escaping their predicament, or a way to bring their world back into balance, but the key is that your main character must want something. Without that you will not have a story.

This "desire line" is the golden thread that will run through your story.

For example, in a love story, the object of desire is the beloved. In a story of illness, the object of desire may be anything from a medical specialist who can treat the patient, to a specific medicine guaranteed to cure. In a failing marriage, the object of desire could be the best divorce lawyer in town, or an apartment of their own. It's your choice and will be dictated by the type of story you are writing.

Step Two: Conflict or Opposition

You will undoubtedly know that nothing ever moves forward in story except through conflict. So once your main character knows what they want, there has to be something or someone around to stop them. And the most powerful person, or thing, to oppose the main character is the one who can put the most pressure on them and force them to change.

It's critical to remember this: the strength of any story is directly related to the strength of the opponent. If it's easy for the main character to reach their goal, then where's the challenge? Where's the drama? Where's the struggle for growth and change?

The Harry Potter novels kept us on the edge of our seats for seven books and ten years because of the promise of a showdown between Harry and Lord Voldemort. The success of Star Wars hinged on the multilayered battle between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. The Bourne series enthrals us because it's one man against the CIA.

In our earlier examples, the opponent in the love story is always the lover. If boy meets girl and they get together and live happily ever after, where is the story? There isn't one! So the lover must resist in some way. In the case of the illness, the main opponent could be a government department that is withholding approval for a drug that will cure you, or it could be a lack of funds to travel overseas to see that one specialist who can treat you. And in the failing marriage, the opponent would be the other marriage partner, who is either trying to send you broke or stopping you from moving out.

Really take the time to explore your opponent. They can often be the most interesting character in the story!

Step Three: Moral Dilemma

The conflict must build so that your main character is forced into a corner, where they must make a decision that challenges their values.

There is only one question you need to ask yourself at this stage, and that is, "how can I push my main character into a place where they feel as though they are stuck between a rock and a hard place?" The decision they make here must be a true test of their core values, and whatever decision they make needs to tip them into the most intense conflict of the story, where they battle the opponent in a do-or-die climax to your story.

For example, in the love story, your character may be forced to choose between love and security, or love and family, as they enter new territory in the relationship stakes. In the illness story, your character may need to choose between health and authority, or health and pride, if they are forced to ask for charity to finance their overseas trip. And in the case of the divorced couple, your main character may be forced to choose between freedom and control, or financial security and love, depending on the scenario you choose.

One way or the other, your character has to make a choice and this choice sends your story into its most intense conflict.

Step Four: The Battle or Climax

You are now entering the most intense conflict of the story and the action here must take place between your main character and the main opponent. This is the classic "fight" scene, or where the great revelation comes out, where you can otherwise surprise or shock your readers. Push it out there! Allow whatever comes out to come out onto the page. Remember you are just exploring your story here. If it goes too far you can pull it back in the writing or the editing. Just remember that the most powerful climax will be one that brings about absolute and irreversible change.

It's a good idea to explore your character's highs and lows at this time. By this I mean look at how they can behave really badly, as we often do when we are pushed into a corner. Does your character come out swinging, or do they submit and surrender? Neither answer is wrong or right. It will depend entirely on your story.

Step Five: Resolution

Every good story asks a question at the beginning. Whether it's a Stephen King "What if?" question, or something entirely different, it's imperative that you answer the question here. How can you show your character having learned their lesson? How are they seeing themselves clearly for the first time? What impact does that have on those around them? What is the "solution" to your story?

I recommend not spending too much time planning this final step, as it almost always simply comes out in the writing. Stories that you are meant to write have a way of just coming out the way they need to, and too much planning of the ending will make it seem contrived.

So those are our five simple steps to great fiction. Have a character who wants something, add something or someone who tries to stop them, put them in an impossible situation, watch them fight their way out and see what they learn in the process!

Simple really!






Author: Suzanne Harrison

Description: the Element of Every Great Story

When I was in the 7th grade, I learned the secret to great writing. It had nothing to do with syntax, vocabulary, sentence structure or tone. The secret was one word; one single, solitary command to be adhered to like a strict diet if you ever wanted to be a great writer. The word? Describe.

If I learned everything perfectly the first time around, I guess I wouldn't have needed all those extra books and English classes that consumed my time throughout high school and college. But, at 13, I didn't quite understand the importance of my teacher's words when she said, "Don't tell me; show me." That, right there, is the key to great writing.

At some time, all of us have heard someone tell a great story. We have sat straight up in our chair, completely enthralled in the words and movements of someone on the other end of the table. With eager eyes, we followed the swing of their hand gestures and noted every swift change of their facial expressions. We were like putty in their hands, eating up every word and ready to go wherever their story led us.

What is it about a good story that has this effect on us? Well, it’s not so much the story itself, but rather the delivery of that story. Anyone can tell a story, but not everyone can make you relive it. A great storyteller puts you in the action of the story, turning a memory, an idea, or a dream into an interactive experience.

In writing, we don’t have the option of great physical gestures or facial expressions. Everything we do relies on words. Therefore, our words must be powerful enough to stand on their own. They must be strong enough to place the reader in the story; to make them feel as if they are in the very shoes of the one who wrote or experienced it.

As E. L. Doctorow says, “Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader. Not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.” This distinction is what separates writing from good writing. It is what produces an effect on your reader that cannot be easily shaken. Sure, anyone can tell them it’s raining, but not everyone can make them feel it.

As a writer, my job is not to make you think of rain, or remember the last time you felt rain, but to have you experience a specific rain -- my rain. No, not the warm, gentle rain that lulls you to sleep at night. Not the cool and refreshing rain that sweeps in the crisp autumn air. The kind of cold rain that bitterly pecks at the back of your exposed neck like a hungry crane. Yes, that kind of rain.

Writing, in essence, is all about communication; and the clearest form of communication comes with vivid and detailed description. So if you want to be a good writer, don't just write for the sake of telling a story. Write for the opportunity of sharing the experience. Use your words to make those who read your writing feel and experience your story just as you have.

Author: Gina Sares

How to Finish a Novel

I personally know dozens of writers who had their first novels published. Most of these novels had one of the following:

A strong premise that clearly challenged an aspect of society or the human condition in a way that was easy for most readers to understand.
Forced readers to ask questions about their own lives
Allowed readers to explore some part of humanity from the safety of their own home example how would I act in a divorce, can you change my mind on the death penalty are the worship of the divine and religion polar or synonyms is the cost of power and wealth really worth it etc.

These are not hard to include in a novel. There is no secret to getting published. All you need to do is finish your novel. Statistics show that 93% of everyone who starts a novel will never finish it. Only 5% of the finished novels will only be submitted once. This means that you have very little competition.

Outlines Help You Finish a Novel

Outlines are just guides. They are blueprints that will help you measure the quality of a novel idea. One of the best reasons for writing outlines, and keeping a journal, is to see if you get bored with the idea before finished.

I've heard writers say they don't outline because they loose interest in the idea before they finish. This is a dead give away that the idea is not good enough for a full length novel. A novel takes a lot of work. In most cases, it takes at least six rewrites and edits before it is ready to be published.

I know several authors who have written novels that sold well. They never lost interest in their ideas. I know for writers who sold every novel they ever wrote. All of these outline to some extent.

I like to outline because it lets me find and fix my mistakes before I start writing the novel.

An outline can be written on index cards. You writer your ideas onto the cards and then you can re-arrange them, improve them, fix problems, and make the story stronger - then I can write the whole story in about 2 weeks.

I can write a whole novel in a month, or about 200 hours, when I use an outline

Avoiding Mistakes

One of the biggest mistakes is believing that every idea is worthy of a full size novel. That is why many new writes have a filing cabinet full of unpublished manuscripts.

Avoiding Rejection Letters

One of the main reasons why writers outline and preplan is to avoid rejection letters. Professional writers often write a novel every three months. They don't have time to write a novel that won't sell.

Are You a Real Writer?

The publishing industry has a voracious appetite. More than 26 billion dollars worth of books are sold every year. And, most authors only write one book then quit. However, publishers are desperately seeking writers who want to create full time careers.

This means that you can get your novel published. All you need to do is spend a few hours and develop your story idea into a full length novel size - and finish it.

Avid Readers Make the Best Writers

One comment I’ve heard from countless authors is, ‘I have no time to read anymore.’ This is a sad state, because the moment a writer stops reading they stop learning how to write.

Many of today’s writers believe they do not need a basic understanding of the classics to become published. It is so hard to explain why they need to understand the classics.

Who better than Dickens to teach character development? Can anyone number the number of today’s bestsellers follow the Jane Eyre story arc? What about a writer who can challenge our basic morality and ideals as well as Shakespeare did?

More than 3000 students have passed though my courses in the last five years. In that time, I’ve learned one thing, ‘Avid readers make the best writers.’

Publishers know this. They constantly beg writers to read the bestsellers in their genre, and study the publishing house’s recent releases before they submit. At Enspiren Press, we are constantly asking authors to read our recent releases.

Yes, we will accept a book with run-on sentences, and even some questionable grammar styles, as long as the story is well-told, is built on a strong structure, and which studies today’s social issues. Even our fantasies and historical novels are built on strong character development and social issues.

Unfortunately, many new writers feel that reading publisher’s recent releases is nothing more than a money grab, a weak attempt to sell books.

Not true.

There is a lot to learn from published books, especially the bestsellers. The first lesson is that book writing is not an exercise in vanity for authors. The fundamental purpose of a book lies in one thing – the reader.

The bestsellers are, in fact, bestsellers, for one reason. They gave the reader, exactly what they want.

The genres were born from the realization that readers like to read the same types of stories, share a story with the same character types, and experience the same thrills, escapism, and entertainment in each book.

Of course, they like their stories wrapped in a variety of plots and themes, settings and ears, social classes, and conflicts. Each genre has a slightly different grammar style and vocabulary. The stories are built around different premises. And, there are varying levels of narration, introspection, monologue, dialogue, and tension.

I am asked weekly what grammar style is used in today’s fiction. Writers want to know what percentage of narration is allowed, when it is permissible to use passive writing, and how to structure Point of View. Unfortunately, I cannot answer this. Not because I do not have an answer, but because the answer is different in each genre.

So, next time you want to improve your writing skills, pick up a current bestseller from the same genre as the manuscript you’re writing.