What is writer's block?
Well, I just can't think of a single darn thing tosay. Oh well, I'm outta here!
Sound familiar? No! Oh, get real! We've allexperienced this phenomenon when we absolutely have towrite something, particularly on deadline. I'm talkingabout. . . . .uh, I can't think of what the word is .. . oh, yes, it's on the tip of my tongue . . . it's:
WRITER'S BLOCK!!!!
Whew! I feel better just getting that out of my headand onto the page!
Writer's block is the patron demon of the blank page.You may think you know EXACTLY what you're going towrite, but as soon as that evil white screen appearsbefore you, your mind suddenly goes completely blank.I'm not talking about Zen meditationstare-at-the-wall-until-enlightenment-hits kind ofblank.
I'm talking about sweat trickling down the back ofyour neck, anguish and panic and suffering kind ofblank. The tighter the deadline, the worse the anguishof writer's block gets.
Having said that, let me say it again. "The tighterthe deadline, the worse the anguish of writer's blockgets." Now, can you figure out what might possibly becausing this horrible plunge into speechlessness?
The answer is obvious: FEAR! You are terrified of thatblank page. You are terrified you have absolutelynothing of value to say. You are afraid of the fear ofwriter's block itself!
It doesn?t necessarily matter if you've done a decadeof research and all you have to do is string sentencesyou can repeat in your sleep together into coherentparagraphs. Writer's block can strike anyone at anytime. Based in fear, it raises our doubts about ourown self-worth, but it's sneaky. It's writer's block,after all, so it doesn't just come and let you knowthat. No, it makes you feel like an idiot who just hadyour frontal lobes removed through your sinuses. Ifyou dared to put forth words into the greater world,they would surely come out as gibberish!
Let's try and be rational with this irrational demon.Let's make a list of what might possibly be beneaththis terrible and terrifying condition.
1. Perfectionism. You must absolutely produce amasterpiece of literature straight off in the firstdraft. Otherwise, you qualify as a complete failure.
2. Editing instead of composing. There's yourmonkey-mind sitting on your shoulder, yelling as soonas you type "I was born?," no, not that, that's wrong!That's stupid! Correct correct correct correct?
3. Self-consciousness. How can you think, let alonewrite, when all you can manage to do is pry thefingers of writer's block away from your throat enoughso you can gasp in a few shallow breaths? You're notfocusing on what you're trying to write, your focusingon those gnarly fingers around your windpipe.
4. Can't get started. It's always the first sentencethat's the hardest. As writers, we all know howEXTREMELY important the first sentence is. It must bebrilliant! It must be unique! It must hook yourreader's from the start! There's no way we can getinto writing the piece until we get past thisimpossible first sentence.
5. Shattered concentration. You're cat is sick. Yoususpect your mate is cheating on you. Your electricitymight be turned off any second. You have a crush onthe local UPS deliveryman. You have a dinner partyplanned for your in-laws. You . . . Need I say more.How can you possibly concentrate with all this mentalclutter?
6. Procrastination. It's your favorite hobby. It'syour soul mate. It?s the reason you've knitted 60argyle sweaters or made 300 bookcases in your garageworkshop. It's the reason you never run out of Brie.
FACE IT ? IT?S ONE OF THE REASONS YOU HAVE WRITER'SBLOCK!
How to Overcome Writer's Block
Okay. I can hear that herd of you running away fromthis article as fast as you can. Absurd! you huff.Never in a million years, you fume. Writer's block isabsolutely, undeniably, scientifically proven to beimpossible to overcome.
Oh, just get over it! Well, I guess it's not thateasy. So try to sit down for just a few minutes andlisten. All you have to do is listen ? you don't haveto actually write a single word.
Ah, there you all are again. I am beginning to makeyou out now that the cloud of dust is settling.
I am here to tell you that WRITER'S BLOCK CAN BEOVERCOME.
Please, remain seated.
There are ways to trick this nasty demon. Pick one,pick several, and give them a try. Soon, before youeven have a chance for your heartbeat to accelerate,guess what? You're writing.
Here are some tried and true methods of overcomingwriter's block:
1. Be prepared. The only thing to fear is fear itself.(I know, that's a clich?but as soon as you startwriting, feel free to improve on it.) If you spendsome time mulling over your project before youactually sit down to write, you may be able tocircumvent the worst of the crippling panic.
2. Forget perfectionism. No one ever writes amasterpiece in the first draft. Don't put anyexpectations on your writing at all! In fact, tellyourself you're going to write absolute garbage, andthen give yourself permission to happily stink up yourwriting room.
3. Compose instead of editing. Never, never write yourfirst draft with your monkey-mind sitting on yourshoulder making snide editorial comments. Composing isa magical process. It surpasses the conscious mind bygalaxies. It's even incomprehensible to the conscious,editorial, monkey-mind. So prepare an ambush. Sit downat your computer or your desk. Take a deep breath andblow out all your thoughts. Let your finger hover overyour keyboard or pick up your pen. And then pull afake: appear to be about to begin to write, butinstead, using your thumb and index finger of yourdominant hand, flick that little annoying ugly monkeyback into the barrel of laughs it came from. Then jumpin ? quickly! Write, scribble, scream, howl, leteverything loose, as long as you do it with a pen oryour computer keyboard.
4. Forget the first sentence. You can sweat over thatall-important one-liner when you've finished yourpiece. Skip it! Go for the middle or even the end.Start wherever you can. Chances are, when you read itover, the first line will be blinking its little neonlights right at you from the depths of yourcomposition.
5. Concentration. This is a hard one. Life throws usso many curve balls. How about thinking about yourwriting time as a little vacation from all thoseannoying worries. Banish them! Create a space, perhapseven a physical one, where nothing exists except thesingle present moment. If one of those irritatingworries gets by you, stomp on it like you would anugly bug!
6. Stop procrastinating. Write an outline. Keep yourresearch notes within sight. Use someone else'swriting to get going. Babble incoherently on paper oron the computer if you have to.
Just do it! (I know, I stole that line fromsomewhere?). Tack up anything that could possibly helpyou to get going: notes, outlines, pictures of yourgrandmother. Put the cookie you will be allowed to eatwhen you finish your first draft within sight ? butout of reach. Then pick up the same type of writingthat you need to write, and read it. Then read itagain. Soon, trust me, the fear will slowly fade away.As soon as it does, grab your keyboard ? and getwriting!
Articles : Food
Monday, 18 May 2009
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
How to Write an Ebook
The hardest part of writing is the first sentence.When you look at the whole project, it seems like animpossible task. That's why you have to break it downinto manageable tasks. Think of climbing a mountain.You are standing at the foot of it and looking up atits summit vanishing into the clouds. How can youpossibly scale such an immense and dangerous mountain?
There is only one way to climb a mountain ? step bystep.
Now think of writing your ebook in the same light. Youmust create it step by step, and one day, you willtake that last step and find yourself standing on thesummit with your head in the clouds.
The first thing you have to do, as if you actuallywere a mountain climber, is to get organized. Insteadof climbing gear, however, you must organize yourthoughts. There are some steps you should take beforeyou begin. Once you've gone through the followinglist, you will be ready to actually begin writing yourebook.
Beginning Steps to Writing an ebook
First, figure out your ebook's working title. Jot downa few different titles, and eventually, you'll findthat one that will grow on you. Titles help you tofocus your writing on your topic; they guide you inanticipating and answering your reader's queries. Manynon-fiction books also have subtitles. Aim for clarityin your titles, but cleverness always helps to sellbooks ? as long as it's not too cute. For example,Remedies for Insomnia: twenty different ways to countsheep. Or: Get off that couch: fifteen exercise plansto whip you into shape.
Next, write out a thesis statement. Your thesis is asentence or two stating exactly what problem you areaddressing and how your book will solve that problem.All chapters spring forth from your thesis statement.Once you've got your thesis statement fine-tuned,you've built your foundation. From that foundation,your book will grow, chapter by chapter.
Your thesis will keep you focused while you write yourebook. Remember: all chapters must support your thesisstatement. If they don't, they don't belong in yourbook. For example, your thesis statement could read:We've all experienced insomnia at times in our lives,but there are twenty proven techniques and methods togive you back a good night's sleep.
Once you have your thesis, before you start to write,make sure there is a good reason to write your book.Ask yourself some questions:
* Does your book present useful information and isthat information currently relevant?
* Will you book positively affect the lives of yourreaders?
* Is your book dynamic and will it keep the reader'sattention?
* Does you book answer questions that are meaningfuland significant?
If you can answer yes to these questions, you can feelconfident about the potential of your ebook.
Another important step is to figure out who yourtarget audience is. It is this group of people youwill be writing to, and this group will dictate manyelements of your book, such as style, tone, diction,and even length. Figure out the age range of yourreaders, their general gender, what they are mostinterested in, and even the socio-economic group theyprimarily come from. Are they people who read fashionmagazines or book reviews? Do they write letters inlonghand or spend hours every day online. The more youcan pin down your target audience, the easier it willbe to write your book for them.
Next, make a list of the reasons you are writing yourebook. Do you want to promote your business? Do youwant to bring quality traffic to your website? Do youwant to enhance your reputation?
Then write down your goals in terms of publishing. Doyou want to sell it as a product on your website, ordo you want to offer it as a free gift for filling outa survey or for ordering a product? Do you want to usethe chapters to create an e-course, or use your ebookto attract affiliates around the world? The more youknow upfront, the easier the actual writing will be.
Decide on the format of your chapters. In non-fiction,keep the format from chapter to chapter fairlyconsistent. Perhaps you plan to use an introduction toyour chapter topic, and then divide it into foursubhead topics. Or you may plan to divide it into fiveparts, each one beginning with a relevant anecdote.
How to make your ebook "user friendly"
You must figure out how to keep your writing engaging.Often anecdotes, testimonials, little stories, photos,graphs, advice, and tips will keep the reader turningthe pages. Sidebars are useful for quick, accessibleinformation, and they break up the density of thepage.
Write with a casual, conversational tone rather than aformal tone such as textbook diction. Reader's respondto the feeling that you are having a conversation withthem. Break up the length and structure of yoursentences so you don?t hypnotize your readers intosleep. Sentences that are all the same length andstructure tend to be a good aid for insomnia!
Good writing takes practice. It takes lots and lots ofpractice. Make a schedule to write at least a page aday. Read books and magazines about the process ofwriting, and jot down tips that jump out at you. Theart of writing is a lifetime process; the more youwrite (and read), the better your writing will become.The better your writing becomes, the bigger your salesfigures.
In an ebook that is read on the screen, be aware thatyou must give your reader's eye a break. You can dothis by utilizing white space. In art classes, whitespace is usually referred to as "negative space."Reader's eyes need to rest in the cool white oasisesyou create on your page. If your page is too dense,your reader will quit out of it as soon as their eyesbegin to tear.
Make use of lists, both bulleted and numbered. Thismakes your information easy to absorb, and gives thereader a mental break from dissecting your paragraphsone after the other.
Finally, decide on an easy-to-read design. Find a fontthat's easy on the eyes, and stick to that fontfamily. Using dozens of fonts will only tire yourreaders out before they've gotten past yourintroduction. Use at least one and a half linespacing, and text large enough to be read easily onthe screen, but small enough so that the whole pagecan be seen on a computer screen. You will have toexperiment with this to find the right combination.
Of course, don't forget to run a spell and grammarcheck. You are judged by something as minor as correctpunctuation, so don?t mess up a great book by tossingout semicolons randomly, or stringing sentencestogether with commas. (By the way, that's called a"comma splice.")
Last of all, create an index and a bibliography.That's it! You've written a book! Now all you have todo is publish your ebook online, and wait for downloadrequest from your website visitors.
Articles : Medic
There is only one way to climb a mountain ? step bystep.
Now think of writing your ebook in the same light. Youmust create it step by step, and one day, you willtake that last step and find yourself standing on thesummit with your head in the clouds.
The first thing you have to do, as if you actuallywere a mountain climber, is to get organized. Insteadof climbing gear, however, you must organize yourthoughts. There are some steps you should take beforeyou begin. Once you've gone through the followinglist, you will be ready to actually begin writing yourebook.
Beginning Steps to Writing an ebook
First, figure out your ebook's working title. Jot downa few different titles, and eventually, you'll findthat one that will grow on you. Titles help you tofocus your writing on your topic; they guide you inanticipating and answering your reader's queries. Manynon-fiction books also have subtitles. Aim for clarityin your titles, but cleverness always helps to sellbooks ? as long as it's not too cute. For example,Remedies for Insomnia: twenty different ways to countsheep. Or: Get off that couch: fifteen exercise plansto whip you into shape.
Next, write out a thesis statement. Your thesis is asentence or two stating exactly what problem you areaddressing and how your book will solve that problem.All chapters spring forth from your thesis statement.Once you've got your thesis statement fine-tuned,you've built your foundation. From that foundation,your book will grow, chapter by chapter.
Your thesis will keep you focused while you write yourebook. Remember: all chapters must support your thesisstatement. If they don't, they don't belong in yourbook. For example, your thesis statement could read:We've all experienced insomnia at times in our lives,but there are twenty proven techniques and methods togive you back a good night's sleep.
Once you have your thesis, before you start to write,make sure there is a good reason to write your book.Ask yourself some questions:
* Does your book present useful information and isthat information currently relevant?
* Will you book positively affect the lives of yourreaders?
* Is your book dynamic and will it keep the reader'sattention?
* Does you book answer questions that are meaningfuland significant?
If you can answer yes to these questions, you can feelconfident about the potential of your ebook.
Another important step is to figure out who yourtarget audience is. It is this group of people youwill be writing to, and this group will dictate manyelements of your book, such as style, tone, diction,and even length. Figure out the age range of yourreaders, their general gender, what they are mostinterested in, and even the socio-economic group theyprimarily come from. Are they people who read fashionmagazines or book reviews? Do they write letters inlonghand or spend hours every day online. The more youcan pin down your target audience, the easier it willbe to write your book for them.
Next, make a list of the reasons you are writing yourebook. Do you want to promote your business? Do youwant to bring quality traffic to your website? Do youwant to enhance your reputation?
Then write down your goals in terms of publishing. Doyou want to sell it as a product on your website, ordo you want to offer it as a free gift for filling outa survey or for ordering a product? Do you want to usethe chapters to create an e-course, or use your ebookto attract affiliates around the world? The more youknow upfront, the easier the actual writing will be.
Decide on the format of your chapters. In non-fiction,keep the format from chapter to chapter fairlyconsistent. Perhaps you plan to use an introduction toyour chapter topic, and then divide it into foursubhead topics. Or you may plan to divide it into fiveparts, each one beginning with a relevant anecdote.
How to make your ebook "user friendly"
You must figure out how to keep your writing engaging.Often anecdotes, testimonials, little stories, photos,graphs, advice, and tips will keep the reader turningthe pages. Sidebars are useful for quick, accessibleinformation, and they break up the density of thepage.
Write with a casual, conversational tone rather than aformal tone such as textbook diction. Reader's respondto the feeling that you are having a conversation withthem. Break up the length and structure of yoursentences so you don?t hypnotize your readers intosleep. Sentences that are all the same length andstructure tend to be a good aid for insomnia!
Good writing takes practice. It takes lots and lots ofpractice. Make a schedule to write at least a page aday. Read books and magazines about the process ofwriting, and jot down tips that jump out at you. Theart of writing is a lifetime process; the more youwrite (and read), the better your writing will become.The better your writing becomes, the bigger your salesfigures.
In an ebook that is read on the screen, be aware thatyou must give your reader's eye a break. You can dothis by utilizing white space. In art classes, whitespace is usually referred to as "negative space."Reader's eyes need to rest in the cool white oasisesyou create on your page. If your page is too dense,your reader will quit out of it as soon as their eyesbegin to tear.
Make use of lists, both bulleted and numbered. Thismakes your information easy to absorb, and gives thereader a mental break from dissecting your paragraphsone after the other.
Finally, decide on an easy-to-read design. Find a fontthat's easy on the eyes, and stick to that fontfamily. Using dozens of fonts will only tire yourreaders out before they've gotten past yourintroduction. Use at least one and a half linespacing, and text large enough to be read easily onthe screen, but small enough so that the whole pagecan be seen on a computer screen. You will have toexperiment with this to find the right combination.
Of course, don't forget to run a spell and grammarcheck. You are judged by something as minor as correctpunctuation, so don?t mess up a great book by tossingout semicolons randomly, or stringing sentencestogether with commas. (By the way, that's called a"comma splice.")
Last of all, create an index and a bibliography.That's it! You've written a book! Now all you have todo is publish your ebook online, and wait for downloadrequest from your website visitors.
Articles : Medic
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