Essay Online

Most people think writing a novel is just writing. I have lost count of the number of people who say “I want to write a novel” and think that they will just sit down, put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, and the whole thing will just unfold before them. I’ve read a few novels, they think, why can’t I write one?

If only it were that easy!

The process of writing any story is exactly that, a process. And whether you are tackling a novel, a short story, an essay or a non-fiction book, you need to begin by planning your story.

This is the most ignored stage in the writing process, and yet it is by far the most important. JK Rowling spent five years planning the Harry Potter novels. And that certainly paid off, didn’t it?

The key to writing any story well, is to find the story that only you can write. This story carries your own emotional truth, and as you progress through the story writing process, your character will take you on the journey of emotional growth just as they will your readers once it’s published.

The Deeper Character Journey

The deeper character journey is the most important aspect of any story. It is what your readers will remember and it is what makes the process of writing a story so worthwhile for the writer. Every time you take your character on a journey, you go on that journey yourself.

So how do we find that deeper character journey? Where do we begin?

We begin with this simple exercise:

Without thinking too much about it, finish this sentence:

• I am interested in writing a story where the main character discovers the importance of ………………

Write for 5 minutes, preferably in long hand, allowing whatever comes up to just flow onto the page.

When you have finished you will find that you have written a lot of different values into your answer. Values are universal qualities of human experience, either positive or negative. Take a few moments to divide these values into their positive and negative groups. You’ll find that a few similar ones in each group will stand out, so isolate these and then decide on the most important ones from each group.

Once you have done this you can now write your deeper character journey in one simple sentence.

• I am interested in writing a story about a character who goes from being….. to being…..

What is your character’s weakness?

Every character has a weakness &ndash something they need to learn to have a better life. Your character’s weakness should now be pretty clear to you, as it is strongly connected to what they need to learn the importance of from the above exercise. With your character’s weakness in place, you can now begin to put them and their weakness under pressure and suddenly your story is off and running.

Predicament

Stephen King says he starts a story with a character in a predicament and watches them to see how they get out of it. So at the start of your story your main character must be in some sort of predicament or stuck in some way. The predicament your main character is in should be a symptom of their weakness. They are aware of their predicament, but they are not aware of their weakness.

For example, a character who needs to learn the importance of patience, is stuck underground on a broken down train. He becomes more and more exasperated and angry as the minutes tick by as he needs to be at an important meeting. As he’s underground his mobile phone has no signal, and he also can’t just jump off the train, as the doors are electronically sealed, and besides he’s underground so he can’t just wander off up the tracks in the dark.

So we know our character’s predicament will expose his weakness, which is impatience. The question for you to answer is, what does he do? How does he respond? What choice does he make? And he will make that choice based on his personal values.

Values in Conflict

Conflict lies at the heart of all powerful stories. It is a well worn adage in story writing that nothing moves forward in a story except through conflict.

But a good story also isn’t just a sequence of random conflicts, things that happen with no apparent pattern or meaning. It is a series of events, putting your character(s) under more and more pressure, forcing them to respond. This then shows us their true character.

Values underlie our choices, our decisions, and in storytelling they drive the story through the characters being forced to make difficult decisions where their values are challenged. A value is a belief system based on what is important to the individual. A value represents something in your character’s life that they are willing to fight for. So if you have a married woman who is attracted to another man, her choice of whether to go with the other man or stay with her husband will be based on the values of romance versus fidelity or loyalty.

Once you have nailed the values underlying your character’s choices, you will have connected strongly with your character’s deeper journey. This in turn connects you to your readers, who will recognise similar conflicts in their own lives.

And you also have the essence of the story that only you can write.

Looking for a new job, whether it is with a new company or a promotion within your own organisation, requires time and effort. To make your job search more effective you need to take five fundamental steps on the road to success:

• Analysing your skills

• Writing a winning Resume

• Managing your job search

• Coaching for interview success

• Negotiating your job offer

Step 1: Analysing your Skills

The most crucial step in the job search process is to assess what skills you have to offer to your future boss. At an interview you will have to tell your story. An interviewer will not remember your precise details, but they will remember your story, once it is filled with practical examples.

This means that you have to be able to explain the four ‘what’s’ of your job:

• What do you do?

• What skills do you require to successfully carry out your role?

• What have you achieved?

• What benefit did your company get from employing you?

The answers to these questions can be used to draft a one-minute sound bite of the skills that you have to offer to your future boss. This sales pitch should incorporate details about your role, your achievements and your personal qualities and should be tailored to the position you are applying for.

For example, ‘experienced Software Engineer who has worked in a multinational telecommunications environment; part of a team that developed an innovative process for a groundbreaking platform; proficient in all aspects of the development life cycle; used a variety of languages particularly C++ and Java; excellent organisational skills combined with a practical and resourceful approach to problem solving’.

Step 2: Writing a Winning Resume

This summary of your skills becomes the cornerstone of your resume. Your resume must be tailored to the needs of your future boss so customise it accordingly.

Here are some guidelines to assist you to write a winning resume:

Aim for a two-page resume - page one should be devoted to how your skills match the position with a emphasis on your recent career details. Page two to your less recent career history, education, training and relevant personal details. Decide on your key selling points. Provide evidence of this experience. Include quantification - reduction in costs, increase in efficiency, improvement in processes, saving in time, etc.

Use simple, jargon free words - if techno speak is required, explain it! Decide on the style after the structure and content have been finalised.

Step 3: Managing your Job Search

The third step to securing your job search success is to manage the process. There are three elements to effectively managing your job search process:

• Controlling channels

• Analysing jobs

• Constructing compelling cover letters

Controlling channels

There are four distinct job search channels. Draw on all four to maximise your success:

1. Contacts - use (in a positive sense!) all of the people that you know, both professionally and personally.

2. Media - this includes newspapers (both national and local) and professional/trade magazines.

3. Agencies - access both online sources and the more traditional recruitment agencies.

4. Direct approach - get in touch with companies that require your skills set.

Analysing jobs

Each job that you apply for is different, so you have to analyse its requirements to ensure a match between you and the role. This entails assessing the job description, the person specification and the environment within which the role operates. Draw up a checklist of the skills required for that job. If you have at least a 60% match, apply!

Constructing compelling cover letters

Your cover letter (typed!) should contain three paragraphs:

• Why you are applying for the job

• How your skills match the requirements of the position

• What outcome you want to achieve (an interview!)

Step 4: Coaching for Interview Success

Your interviewer wants to know two things - can you do the job and will you fit in. Your RESUME prompts the interviewer’s questions in relation to ‘can you do the job’. These questions revolve around the who, what, when, where, how and why of your current job (the technical details of your job).

The issue of whether you will fit in is crucial to your interview success. You may be technically superb, but if your interviewer believes that you will ‘upset the applecart’, he/she will not hire you. This means that your interview preparation should also concentrate on the non-technical aspects of your role. For example, how you relate to your colleagues and boss, how you have contributed to your team, how you have resolved potential interpersonal difficulties, etc.

Regardless of whether you are talking about the technical aspects of your job, or the non-technical elements, use real life examples to illustrate your point. Provide a picture in the interviewer’s mind of the competent, capable person that you are.

Step 5: Managing your Job Offer

Following a successful interview, build on your success by negotiating an attractive job offer. This involves maximising your remuneration package and ensuring that your contract of employment exceeds the legal minimum.

Know what you own requirements are but make sure that they are in line with the reality of today’s labour market. You also need to ensure that all of your referees give you a glowing reference and that they emphasise the skills that you want highlighted.

It’s Thanksgiving morning, 2007, and before I start wailing about what isn’t right in my life, I think I should give thanks for what is right. First of all, of course, would be my husband, children and their children, without whom life would be empty for me. I often think how sad it would be, to be alone in this world. Then I thought back to the days when my children were finally giving me some long-awaited grandchildren. That, I hoped, guaranteed I’d have little ones around for a lot of years to give me lots of love and hugs. I thought back to my stress-free feelings at that time…

Grandchildren have a way of bringing life back into our lives. Mine do &ndash all fifteen of them. In a world of so many lonely people, I feel blessed that my life is filled with happy, energetic progeny; all so different, yet defined by drops of my DNA. I often look at them with utter amazement &ndash that from my genes (okay, maybe a few others) these rarefied beings sprang forth.

When our children get married, how we yearn for that first grandchild. How we look with envy (and secretly dislike) our friends who made the Big G before we did. Those mean-spirited grandmothers who whip out strings of pictures as long as a football field; how they drone on and on about their Mensa Club-intellect grandchildren, and prattle on about the little cherub’s accomplishments, ad nauseam.

But, oh, when ours do come along, it’s so different. No grandchild has ever been as beautiful at birth, as attentive and wide-eyed; even the birth weight and length become things to crow about. All of a sudden we’re sporting a backpack stuffed with pictures in every conceivable pose known to man.

But, aside from this constant need to push pictures of our grandchild into our friend’s faces, there is something else grandmothers have in common. After interviewing many women on the feelings they experienced at their grandchild’s birth, the final consensus was this: we all had an overwhelming emotional pull, but also a feeling of complete stress-free contentment.

Did we feel this same emotional pull when our children were born? Well, if we did it was smothered under anxiety and the fear of what to do with this baby when the nurse told us to get up so someone else could occupy the bed.

I think I’ve come up with a reasonable answer for this stress. As young mothers giving birth, we came face to face with this small blob of protoplasm and had no clue where to start. They might as well have put a blindfold over our eyes when they handed us this warm, stuffed blanket and wheeled us toward the hospital exit: “Goodbye. Good Luck!”

Unfortunately, babies don’t come with How-To books. There’s no user’s manual with instructions on operating this howling little person. No tag dangling from a tiny pink toe with instructions on care.

Now enter the grandmother. Here is this same tiny blob of protoplasm, only now it doesn’t fall on grandma’s shoulders to see that this child survives, walks, talks, eats, sleeps, matures into a perfect citizen, and is socially acceptable. We leave the hospital after visiting hours full of emotion, full of love, but absolutely free of stress.

As the baby grows from infant to toddler, we hold them close to inhale their milky-moist breath, search their faces for any resemblance of our own children, ourselves, our DNA. And it is totally stress-free. We get to love them, cuddle them, spoil them, and then send them home to the responsible party from whence they came.

At the end of a visit, how we hate to give up these soft, precious creations of God. We can taste their hello and goodbye kisses long after they’ve delivered them. How we look forward with such anticipation to see them again. We allow them to do things we never allowed our own children to get away with, which is pointed out to us by our children on a regular basis.

And, if this child develops traits not to our liking, well, of course we are duty-bound to tell their parents how we would have handled that in our day.

But, alas, children grow. And, we are only humans &ndash albeit older humans. I doubt there’s a grandparent who will ever admit to this, but after a weekend of running after the precious little toddlers, tripping over their toys, watching our spotless homes fill with smudges, drips and scuffs, the inimitable words of the late Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. come to mind as the taillights disappear down the street: “Free at last, free at last. . .”

Fast-forward a few years, and guess who takes credit for all the grandchildren’s accomplishments? Of course &ndash we do. Where else would that child have inherited that porcelain skin, that thick head of hair, that high I.Q.?

Fast-forward again. As we age, so do our grandchildren. But our love is unflagging. Now it seems there is scarcely any time for grandma. But we know we can catch a peek at them on a baseball diamond, soccer field, or class play, if only just to crow to the stranger sitting next to us “…that’s my grandchild!”

Next in this voyage to adulthood comes the dating game. Grandma Who? We might get calls every now and then asking if they can drop by to show us a new prom dress or a tux, their school pictures or report cards. Can we sew up a quickie little item for a school play or dance class? &ndash it won’t take long, Grammy. Or, “…ah Grams, got any extra bread?” As I head for the kitchen it dawns on me … oh, that kind of bread &ndash then I head for my purse.

I had an eye-opener on how one of my grandchildren views me: I was attending a ball game where my youngest grandson was playing. At the end of the game he came running up to me oozing sweat and smiles. “Grams, did you see the great throws I made? Did you see my home runs?”

“I did, honey. You were great. Are you going to keep playing baseball?”

“Heck yeah,” he answered, without hesitation. “When I’m older I’m gonna play Pro ball.”

I was most impressed. “How wonderful,” I said. “You know professional ballplayers make a lot of money. You can take care of Grams in my old age.”

He thought about that for a second, looked me straight in the eye and replied, “But Grams, you’re already old and I’m only eight!”

Oh, all right, maybe I’ll have to depend on some of my older grandchildren to help me in my dotage. But, I thank God everyday that I have them to depend on &ndash for stress-free love.

Imagery and Characterization, can the two ever meet outside of an English class?

Is your hero a volcano, seething with fury and ready to burst at any moment? Is your heroine a skittish crane attempting to fly far, far away whenever trouble startles her? How about something more basic? Earth, air, fire, or water. When they’re angry, do they darken, flash, seethe, or boil? When they’re excited, do they thicken or sear, experience lightning or rivers of fire?

Talk about imagery and even writers roll back to their worst high school English class. That’s unfortunate because there is no easier tool for characterization than using good consistent imagery. How many of us have read something like this: His touch was like a hot brand against her skin. Her heart quivered with longing as he stabbed her with his arrow of luv. Okay, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea. Cliche imagery for cliche stories.

So many romance novels end up with Ken and Barbie characters. Physically they’re perfect, emotionally they’re perfect&ndashexcept for their one scar that is the focus of their arc. Barbie needs to learn to trust because she’s been dumped before. Ken lost his last girlfriend to a fire because he was a coma at the time therefore it was all his fault and he now has a protect the world from its own stupidity. I’m making fun here, but romance readers know how the same emotional baggage in the hands of one author is farce in someone else’s.

So how do you make your characters deeply emotional people with real problems instead of Ken in a coma? Hard work. Ha! You thought I was going to say imagery. No, good imagery will not save a stupid book. But consistent imagery will deepen your characters and&ndashhere’s the good part&ndashkeep your themes in your head from the beginning all the way through to the end of the book. Yup. Since writing is HARD WORK, anything that makes it EASIER WORK gets a thumbs up from me.

Raise your hand if you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about. Think of your heroine. For this example, we’ll call her Better Than Barbie (BTB). What’s her character arc? What does she learn through the course of the book? How does she change? If you can’t answer that, sit down and think of an answer. You can’t write a credible book without it. Remember, the answer could be that she doesn’t change. Despite everything, she remains rock solid in her beliefs.

Great, now BTB has a character arc. Let say BTB needs to learn to forgive, not only herself for her bad choices but her Mother From Hell who set her up with the Fianc

Peter Rabbit was a figment of the imagination of the very creative Beatrix Potter. The author was born in 1866 in Victorian Kensington London. Her home was large and sumptuous, her family rich. She was raised with several servants, a shy girl who wiled away many hours of every day by herself. Beatrix Potter learned many artistic things from her governess. She taught the writer about music, art, reading and writing. Her only other regular company was her full time nurse. Beatrix Potter had one brother. Bernard, six years her junior was away at boarding school most of the time and Beatrix’s companion only during the summer months.

June, July and August Beatrix Potter and Bernard Potter together relished the outdoors of Scotland’s Lake District, where the family spent its holidays. Bernard and Beatrix ran through woods and fields, chasing wild animals and sometimes catching a few. They drew sketches of their favorite wild creatures living in their natural habitats. From these ideal summer days grew Beatrix Potter’s adoration of wildlife and the natural outdoors. One local influence and adult friend, Canon Rawnsley, vicar of the Scots Lake District, captured her attention with his stories about how tourism and manufacturing can destroy the environment.

The Potter parents were overprotective of both Beatrix and Bernard. They discouraged their son and daughter from making any friends of the other local children their age. Beatrix and Bernard became closer to each other because of this. Together they created a vast pet collection from the wild creatures of nearby fields and woods. They kept these creatures in their own school room. There were times when Beatrix Potter and brother Bernard were caregivers from a lizard, several water newts, a snake, a rabbit, a turtle and a frog &ndash all at the same time. As the two siblings cared for the habitat, they sketched them as well. From these creature friends and their sketches grew the animal characters of the Beatrix Potter books.

Benjamin Bouncer was Beatrix Potter’s favorite animal pal. Benjamin was Peter Rabbit’s predecessor. Beatrix found him in a London bird shop. She kept the purchase from her mother and father, sneaking him into her nursery in a paper bag without telling anyone except Bernard. She devised a story around Benjamin of a bunny that loved hot buttered toast and used to run quickly into the living room every time the tea bell rang. He knew tea time meant toast time too.

Peter Piper, another Beatrix Potter creation, came from the antics of Beatrix and Bernard’s favorite buck rabbit. They bought the bunny in Belgium, and noted that this particular rabbit loved to lie on the rug in front of the fireplace hearth. The Potter tales told of a Peter Piper that learned tricks quickly, jumped through hoops, rang bells and played the tambourine.

When the verdict was read my client smiled broadly and rapidly turned toward me and shook my hand vigorously and patted my shoulder at the same time. His quickness of movement surprised me and as I stared into his smiling eyes and I saw no relief, only gladness. He again reacted when he saw my look and darted his eyes upward as if to thank the ceiling. He brought his gaze back down as open eyed innocence.

“Thank you much, counselor, thanks to you very much!” This time he spoke his congratulations as he continued to shake my hand. “I knew you were a good one, from what I heard and could see you calculate. You got a very good start and this only proves your worth. You have my utmost gratitude and I’m forever thankful.” He grinned widely then spun around to move toward his wife only a few steps away behind the rail.

A couple of other court observers came over to me but I kept a sideways glance at my client. With narrow eyes I could see their blank look at each other then a slight eye movement toward me from him to her that caused her to smile more yet unmoving her glance. They hugged one another as I turned my attention back to who was talking to me.

“For a youngster like yourself you did a meticulous job drawing the reasonable doubt. This was all circumstantial, and they knew it, but it was all they had. Just think they don’t like the couple, they’re kind of liberal with the kids. Nothing but bias, though a tragedy that kid got taken from their school. Good job, Hank.”

“Thanks, Ben; I really appreciate your opinion. It means a lot to me.” I told the older attorney. I figured he was here mostly to watch the proceedings.

As I gathered my paperwork I glanced over to the exit doors and they were already gone. They didn’t stay around for anyone else. They had just left.

The prosecutor nodded at me as he turned to head for the exit but said nothing. I went back to finish up when I noticed the detective standing at my table.

“At least we got them noticed. They’ll probably end up leaving the city to go further away. We’ll keep that trace on them, through the network, wherever they will land. These kind of people, once they got that taste they’ll have to do it again.” He kept his stare at me. “That kid was molested enough to have caused torture. Then they suffocated him. If we find the DNA match it’ll probably be a drifter they hired to ‘walk’ in around the same time. Then all he could say for the money he was paid they told him to pilfer through the living room to look for more cash and take pocket valuables. Just for an insurance claim, they would have told him. Too bad the living room led to the kitchen where the boy supposedly was making a snack. Holding the kid so hard to keep him quiet must of somehow cut off his air. Then to find the kid in the woods clubbed mercilessly with a log to create a messy distraction could have been anyone that carried him that mile. But it wasn’t.” He looked at the exit. “Didn’t you notice how they responded to the not guilty, counselor? It wasn’t with the stress of the falsely accused. You could see that, couldn’t you?”

“No sir,” I told him, “It was a random act. This city is dangerous.”

“They are,” he replied. Then he left.

As I left there was a couple more handshakes from people. Outside the courtroom I sat down on a bench after the court officer refused to look directly at me. I was young but sharp as I had been told and willing to dig through the details until I could make a point. But this was the first time my gut had started to react. And my observance has become keener. Yes, now I know there is something wrong with their story. Everything too pat in their telling and everything too smooth in what must have happened. I am getting better.

I got up to go back to my office for I know there will be more offers. This will help gain wider notice; these people had money and influence. This case will help me in the long run. What matters is the win.