Essay Online

‘Tis the season for evaluating the year gone by! Over the next few weeks you’ll see plenty of articles summing up the successes and failures in industries all across the board: television, movies, automobiles, retail. It’s no different for the publishing industry. Already the New York Times has run an article examining publishing’s good, bad and ugly decisions of 2005. There are many tidbits here and there in Publishers Weekly as well. While the overall message can seem daunting for an aspiring author (sales down, even some celebrity books didn’t do well), there are a few choice nuggets you can pluck from the dust and use to energize your publishing process for 2006.

Beware of Mixed Messages

Yes, sales are down. Both the Association of American Publishers and the American Booksellers Association reported a drop of 2 percent in adult hardcover and overall bookstore sales. This continues a trend that’s a few years old. However, the USA’s major bookstore chains (Barnes & Noble, Borders and Books-A-Million) are planning to open about 80 new stores in 2006, ten more than this year. And we’re talking HUGE stores, with the B&N ones topping out at nearly 30,000 sq. ft.!

Obviously, somebody is making enough money to justify these openings. Granted, such stores do sell more than books these days. Music, DVDs and expensive cups of java figure prominently in the sales ledgers. But I don’t see Books-A-Million changing their name to Cups-A-Million! Bottom line: as long as the big guys think it’s profitable to be in the book business, it can be profitable for you to be in the book business.

When Celebrities Fail

It seems like Martha Stewart had a banner year, doesn’t it? She got out of prison, launched a couple of TV shows, made a spectacular return to the cover of her magazine and she wrote a book, The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Build, or Manage a Business. Despite her huge successes elsewhere, though, things didn’t turn out so well for that book. The New York Times reports that after Rodale Books signed Ms. Stewart to a $2 million contract and planned a printing of 500,000, the book has sold just 37,000 copies since its October release.

I asked around about this and one editor wondered whether Ms. Stewart had crossed a line into overexposure land. But let’s be clear about this and get the lesson right: this isn’t just about seeing Martha Stewart everywhere and being too tired of her to want to read about her in a book. This is about whether Ms. Stewart had anything left to tell us that we don’t feel we already know.

Understanding this nuance is important because in this time where having a “platform” is the “it” thing, you have to be quite savvy in how you put yourself out there. If you give away all your tips, secrets, strategies, life story, connections, etc., each and every time you’re in front of people, you won’t have anything left for them to look for in a book! Of course this only pertains to non-fiction authors and only for certain subjects. I’m sure Ms. Stewart’s audience, for example, will never tire of getting new recipes and new household tips from her!

Classic Winning Move: Speaking Truth From the Heart

I’m a fiction writer, so it pains me to say it, but right now in the publishing industry non-fiction is king. And the stuff that people want to read includes thoughtful, heartfelt stories and essays from noted voices such as Joan Didion (The Year of Magical Thinking), Jimmy Carter (Our Endangered Values) and Kurt Vonnegut (A Man Without a Country). The lesson here is a simple one: be true to yourself, write what you feel and at some point your audience will find you.

I know that can be hard to believe when it seems you can’t get anyone to read a query letter let alone a manuscript, but this is an industry that rewards persistence. There are many ways to get your story out there and in a few weeks you’ll have a whole new year in which to find the one that’s right for you. The choice is yours. Good luck.

Realistically, budding writers get a kick out of signing their manuscripts with a flourish. Why not give them Cross pens to spur them on to greater heights? If you are one of these wannabes, you can also give yourself a set; these writing tips will get you going.

Inkwell of Ideas and Cross Pens

So you’ve seen those beautiful Cross pens in different designs and colors. If you want one for yourself, go ahead. You deserve something extra special for all the hard work you’ve done. Come to think about it, if you want one, your friends will want these too, especially the budding writer who hang on every word written by Joyce Carol Oates, Norman Mailer, Toni Morrison, and other writers.

To develop and shape yours and your friend’s writing prospects, get books on writing that are widely available in bookstores and in online shops. Write a special message on the inside front cover for that warm encouragement - your friend will need it.

Or you can tell your friend to start looking at the world around him and beyond his white picket fence. That’s how a writing career starts. You must also have an inkwell of ideas and a rich repertoire of words. Those Cross pens will add that glamour and glitz towards the efforts.

Starting A Writing Career Made Easy

You’ll be surprised that some of the writers that took up the challenge of pen and paper were not all that writing experts. Some did not even have the opportunity to finish a degree but made a good career at writing. If you’re thinking of pursuing a writing career online, or suspect that your son or daughter has the inclination, help that child along.

If you want to make extra money, here are some tips for making a lucrative writing career online that will provide you the luxury of collecting those adorable Cross pens:

1. Join different blog sites. Upload your first blog and get published in that site.

2. Prepare your portfolio and resume, so whenever you are asked for these, they’re all ready.

3. Join a network providing free writing jobs online.

4. Read up reading tips on different sites.

5. Buy those ebooks from reputable sites.

Keep on writing and reading. No matter how depleted your think tank, you’ll find the way towards a filled blank page. Experts advice you to be critical of your own work. Once you are 100% satisfied with your effort, have these posted in blog sites. That’s how you’ll get noticed.

Thoughts on Giving Cross Pens

Everybody would love Cross pens for gifts. When giving these out, write a special greeting to make the recipient special. A kind thank-you note and recognition of their efforts will match the gift in value and importance.

A busy executive will appreciate pen refills if she or he already has a collection of this pens; add a classy pen holder and he or she is set for another year of document and check signing. If you’re giving pens to friends, have these individually engraved with their names. It won’t seem like a hastily thought-of gift.

For the budding writer - give a set of Cross Pens and a how-to-write book to go with it. Your gift will go a long way towards the making of a new J.K. Rowlings. Who knows? And all this started out with a thoughtful gift.

If you have a good appetite and a way with words, food writing may be a career option to consider. Not only is doing research for food writing one of the more enjoyable tasks in freelance writing, but you’ll never be short of restaurant recommendations and potential free meals — though you may run short of well-fitting pants.

To become a successful freelance food writer, you’ll need to know how to describe food well. The key to description, at least in traditional literature, is to make focused, concrete comparisons. To see why, ask yourself which sentence you find more appealing: “It was the tastiest shrimp I’ve ever eaten,” or “The lime-pressed garlic shrimp, grilled over applewood, had a texture between the crunch of caramelized sugar and the soft resistance of a medium-rare salmon filet”?

The fundamental law of food writing is to make your reader wish that he or she had some of whatever delicious dish you’re writing about, to make the reader personally invested in the food. And there’s a strange quirk in the human mind: whenever we think about an object or activity, we activate the parts of our brain that turn on whenever we’re interacting with that object or engaged in that activity. In other words: if we think about throwing a baseball, the nerves in our arm twitch. Or, if we think about eating a thick steak, our stomach grumbles and our mouth waters. When you’re writing about food, you want to activate those same parts of the brain to make your reader feel that he or she is sharing in the experience of eating it. Words like “tasty,” “delicious,” or, worst of all, “really good,” won’t do anything for your reader’s emotions. Only words related to food — or words and images with strong emotional connotations — will really get your readers’ mouths watering.

Once you’ve written your articles, where do you market your food writing? If you live in a large city, you can write for a local newspaper or an alternative paper (i.e. the LA Weekly, the Austin Chronicle, etc.). Millions of people read these papers daily or weekly, and a good portion of those millions read the food section. When anyone in a major city needs to make restaurant reservations for a date, business dinner, party, or other social engagement, they look in the food section of the local paper for hot new restaurant reviews. Stay on top of restaurant openings and closings in your city. New restaurant openings can be your “bread and butter.” Local newspapers and online city guides are always wanting to print new restaurant reviews.

If you have a favorite local hangout that not many people know about, write an article on it. Submit your article with a proper query letter to a local newspaper. You might be the first one to write about the place, throwing needed business their way. In the end, you collect a decent paycheck from the newspaper, along with a published clip, a byline, and hopefully more work and referrals.

Another option is to write for magazines dedicated to food, dining, city nightlife, general lifestyles, or for the tourist market. If you plan to write for magazines, your choice of what to write about becomes much broader. You can write how-to articles, interview pieces, cookware reviews, and so on. If you plan to write for local tourism guides, your best bet is to write restaurant reviews. Tourists may not know about any of the well-known restaurants or diners in the area. Tourism guides provide insight and guidance to what’s hot and what’s not in the area. This means that there’s a steady flow of potential readers for your restaurant reviews and other food writing.

If you don’t live in a large city, it’s much more difficult to become a food writer. The mom n’ pop cafe downtown may have some of the best omelets you’ve ever tasted, but how are you supposed to sell an article if everyone in town already eats at that cafe every Friday night? Consider selling your articles to regional magazines. The Department of Transportation in several US states often publishes a monthly magazine about regional news. The editors of these magazines often look at local restaurant reviews as a source of human interest, or a way of boosting out-of-state tourism to non-traditional destinations.

Additionally, you might try writing sample copy for cookbooks, press releases for food suppliers, or ads for food companies. Companies and book publishers hire good food writers to help market anything from new varieties of pasta sauce to gourmet steak dishes. Even a nearby supermarket might be willing to pay for copy in weekly ad flyers.

Unfortunately for rural types, full-time food writing is more often than not an urban game. For urban types, food is one of the products that won’t ever stop being popular, especially when it’s offered as part of a good restaurant experience. Thus food writing means job security, and more importantly than that: it’s just outright enjoyable writing. So get to it!

I frequently tell my coaching clients about the importance of regularly updating web site content. Fresh content keeps customers coming back and gets indexed more frequently by search engines. Novelty spurs attention, whether human or technological. A few months ago, I received a question from a student who really wanted to update his web site on a regular basis, but was struggling with finding new material. Here are a few ideas for generating fresh content:

- Update Existing Web Pages. Virtually everything in life changes on a regular basis. You may not notice it, but almost every aspect of your business changes, too. Did you recently update conditions of a service? Add a new product? Create a revolutionary turnkey solution that is likely to save your clients thousands of dollars every month?

Your web site should reflect the most up-to-date information about your business. Update the details and delivery methods of your services, add a new product to your database and web site, and by all means, don’t forget to prominently display information about your new and improved solutions.

- Write Articles for Your Web Site. Articles are a valuable resource for your business. Articles on your web site educate your web site visitors and showcase your expertise.

In addition to posting articles on your web site, you can use them in your own newsletters, and submit them to other newsletters and web sites for syndication. Many business owners are looking for web site and newsletter content - let them use your articles, along with your by-line and resource box. This will let you leverage your articles and generate free publicity, exposing you to new audiences.

Many of my clients have asked me how to find topics for new articles. The topics are everywhere - in today’s news, conversations with clients and colleagues, networking events you attend, speeches you hear. This very article started as a question from a marketing student.

- Start a Blog. Blogging is fast becoming the tool of choice for showcasing new content on business web site. A blog is an excellent tool to answer your web site visitors’ questions, inform them about new products and services and tell them about industry news. Don’t be afraid to share your opinions - your blog is the perfect place to showcase your business and expertise. A blog is an excellent vehicle for connecting with your visitors, as well as generating fresh web site content.

Updating your web site on a regular basis is very important. Put article writing and blogging in your business schedule - you will start reaping the rewards of frequent updates very soon.

If you want to write a novel, but are putting it off until the kids are grown, I have two words for you: Don’t wait. It’s possible to raise a happy, healthy family and still follow your writing dream. And that’s true whether you’re single or married. Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom or work outside the house.

You may think I’m crazy - how can you find time to write when you’re already so busy you barely have time to sleep?

It can be done.

J.K. Rowling quite famously penned the first of her Harry Potter series in a coffee shop with her baby napping in a buggy. I wrote my first novel, Flip-Flopped, in two years by setting my alarm for 5 a.m. every day and squeezing in writing before work, and then stealing any other time I could. I’d write a scene while my son built a Lego castle, or do some editing while he was planted in front of the TV for a half hour.

A mother of two small children, Allison Pearson turned her frustrations as a mom into the best-selling novel, I Don’t Know How She Does It. She’s admitted that being a mom and trying to write a novel is difficult - “like having a secret third child in the house that you have to go and play with when the other two have gone to bed,” she’s said. Still, she managed to finish in a year, even with holding a job part of the time.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that you don’t have to sweep aside everything in order to write. There’s this assumption that writing a novel means countless hours of uninterrupted time-just you alone in a cabin somewhere with nothing but pen and paper and maybe a plate of Oreos. That’s not only impossible for most people, it’s not even preferable. Some of your best writing inspiration will come from life. If you make writing a part of your day-to-day routine, you’re far more likely to stick with it.

Some tips for combining motherhood with a writing career:

1. Schedule it in. A friend of mine has a regular 8 - 9 p.m. date with her computer. Barring a broken leg or the house burning down, she never misses it, and she rarely goes over. Knowing she has a limited time spurs her to be productive.

2. Lower your standards, at least when it comes to housework. Could the floor go one more day without sweeping? Could you use bottled pasta sauce instead of making it from scratch? Yes, June Cleaver always did everything perfectly, but she didn’t write a novel. She also wasn’t real.

3. Involve your kids. Plunk them down next to you with crayons and paper while you write. Dub it your “creative time.”

4. Be the tortoise. Forget every story you’ve ever heard about how this or that author wrote a book in a month. Writing your novel will take as long as it needs to take. If you stick with it, you’ll eventually get to the end.

5. Delegate. Women often get stuck with the housework because they feel they’re the only ones who can do it “right.” Give jobs away to your husband or kids, and resist the urge to re-do them - even if the towels aren’t folded right or the stove doesn’t gleam the way it should.

6. Consider starting small. If writing a novel seems overwhelming, start with a short story or even some of the super-short “flash fiction” that’s popular right now. The bonus: It’s easier to get short pieces published on the Internet, so you can amass clips.

7. Banish guilt. As women, it’s hard for us to take time for ourselves. If you’re feeling guilty about spending time writing, remember the saying, “kids learn what they see.” What your children will see is you plugging away at making one of your dreams come true. Isn’t that at least as important as a perfectly clean house?

One of the criterion a teacher sticks to in order to evaluate your research papers is the way it is written, namely the manner of expression produced by the author’s choice of words, grammatical structures, use of literary devices, and all the possible parts of language use. All together, the teacher evaluates your writing style.

Therefore, if you are aiming at high grades and a distinguish research paper, you should pay special attention to the layout of your research paper ideas in the first place.

First of all, you should remember that a research paper is a formal paper. Thus, you should obey all the principles of formal writing that include:

1. Sophisticated vocabulary;

2. Impersonal tone;

3. More frequent use of passive voice;

4. Complex sentence constructions;

5. Formal linking devices;

6. Punctuation;

7. Overall presentation.

Let’s look at these points one by one, so that you can ensure that your research paper meets the requirements of the formal writing.

1. Sophisticated Vocabulary

Sophisticated vocabulary is a must while writing a research paper. The use of thoughtful words will definitely impress the reader with your creativity, intelligence, and intimate knowledge of the research paper topic.

However, you should not overuse sophisticated vocabulary and put worldly words where they do not belong. Try to find the golden mean between the extremes and replace advanced vocabulary with commonly-used words when necessary.

Surely, in your research paper you will want to use some unusual terms or references that are not familiar to the general audience. Your desire to give your research paper a scientific flair is always welcome. However, be sure to define or explain the terms you use, even though you know that the teacher is familiar with them.

You should avoid clichés, which are overused, colloquial and idiomatic expressions, or trite expressions that have lost their impact in meaning. Think of proper synonims to frequently used words, and, for instance, write opportunity instead of chance, or it is a well-known fact rather than everyone knows.

And stick to the golden rule of writing a research paper, namely make sure there is not a single contraction in your research paper.

2. Impersonal Tone

It is important that your research paper has no references to yourself, such as “I think…” or “It is my conclusion that…” You should avoid such expressions and replace them with neutral expressions by means of infinitive, or the passive voice. It is one of the key points of successful research paper writing.

3. More Frequent Use of Passive Voice

The passive voice of written research papers is effective in creating a sense of objectivity, such as focusing attention on the thing acted upon. It is also useful when the subject acted upon is unknown or unimportant, or if you want to use long modifiers at the end of the sentence.

But beware, and eliminate the passive voice where active should be placed. The enduring use of passive voice obscures the meaning and makes for boring reading. A natural symbiosis of the passive and active voices can work miracles.

4. Sentence Construction

Make sure you vary sentence length and structure. Let various sentence constructions take place in your research paper: simple sentences, compound sentences, complex sentences, complex-compound sentences.

In formal writing of research papers complex grammatical constructions are preferable. However, do not get caught into an endless loop of complex sentence structures and bring in your research paper simple sentences from time to time.

5. Formal Linking Devices

It is necessary to vary linking devices in your research paper. Instead of putting “for example” all the time, you can use “for instance”,” in particular”,” especially”. To express the effect you can vary the expressions like thus, therefore, as a result, consequently, so, as a consequence and so on.

If you face problems with finding synonyms, do not be lazy to go to a library and look up the words in a dictionary. Your efforts will be awarded hundred times, for the variety of linking devices guarantees a smooth flow of speech and a desired effect on the reader.

6. Punctuation

Every single writer should use punctuation in a wise manner to achieve the intended effect. Punctuation that is purely used can confuse the reader and leave him with no clear idea of what your research paper topic was all about.

Thus, keep the following punctuation caveats in mind: a period shows a full separation of ideas; comma and coordinating conjunction show such relationships as: addition, choice, consequence, contrast, or cause; a semicolon reveals that the second sentence completes the idea that was started in the first sentence.

Once you check your research paper for punctuation, the lion’s share of research paper writing is completed.

7. Overall presentation.

The overall presentation of a research paper counts greatly while evaluation; it has the power either to win the reader’s favor, or turn him down.

So, make sure your reader will be delighted at the sight of your research paper and make your research paper look properly. It means that, as a formal piece of writing, your research paper should not be brightly-colored or written in some funny font. Formal writing requires simplicity and accuracy.

Neatly laid out research paper ideas have all chances to be approved by your teacher.

By following the general principles of sentence construction, punctuation, and vocabulary use, you will be able to create a positive image of yourself as a bright, eloquent, and keen person, the one who is worth getting an excellent grade for their breath-taking research paper.

Last night in the dark following midnight I killed my muse (suffocating her quietly with a pillow) and buried her in my back garden. Today I will plant a roses to hide the grave. No one will ever know and I will be free at last of her insidious hold and I will be able to write what I want.

Why did I resort to this deed? After all my muse was lovely and gave me many gifts over the years. She saw me through dark times and helped mark the joyous ones. Many times she inspired me to reach for more and push myself beyond what I thought I could achieve. Knowing all this why would I kill the very source of my inspiration?

Oh, I had my reasons…

It started out quietly. As I would sit at my keyboard or curl up with a notebook, she would perch on my shoulder as was her wont to do. “I don’t think you meant to write that sentence,” she would whisper in my ear. “That doesn’t sound like the best description,” she would snipe. “Is that the best you can do?” she would sneer.

I took to sneaking my writing in when I knew she was occupied elsewhere. She never could resist critiquing the writing in the morning paper if it was left spread on the kitchen table. That way I could sometimes write several pages before she began her commentary. “Surely you can find a better way to approach this topic,” her mocking voice would interrupt. “That has been so done.”

Soon I was spending more time arguing with her, defending my words, than I was writing. Then my production slowed to a crawl as I would overanalyze each word choice and sentence formation before committing it to screen or paper. All that did was give her more time to find fault with the few words I did write.

Despite urgent deadlines and simmering ideas, I started avoiding the computer and all writing materials. I cleaned my house. I read for hours on end. I made plans for a new garden. The need the write built within me but always my muse was watching me with those eyes — so judgemental, so critical. I would turn away from my office with a sigh and find some other project.

When I could no longer suppress the urge to write I locked her in a closet and had a wonderfully productive morning. I was so happy with my work that I let her out as I went out the door to run some errands. That just made her mean.

She was waiting for me at the door when I came home. Her glasses had slid nearly to the tip of her nose and somehow she’d found a red pencil (I certainly never brought any such thing into the house). I shuddered at the sight of my happy morning’s labor marred by vicious slashes of red. The red blurred before my eyes into a crimson haze and then…

Perhaps it is better that you don’t know the details. Suffice it to say that I have selected several old-fashioned roses with luscious aroma and delicate coloring. I am sure they will provide both inspiration and comfort.

Despite my late hours and the physical toil involved, this morning I awoke early and have already logged in several hours at the keyboard. My fingers flew across the keys and after completing several long-stagnant projects I outlined notes for some new. Writing is joyful and rewarding again.

I think I might dedicate this next book to the memory of my muse. Perhaps it will serve as a warning to those other muses out there who are on the verge of going over the edge. Perhaps it will inspire those other writers out there who have let their muse stifle their creativity and shove them right into writer’s block. Maybe my warning will mean those other muses and their writers will find a way to work things out.