Posts Tagged ‘edit’

Writing: Is It A Forte, Trade, Or Gift?

June 16, 2011 - 1:19 pm

Whenever you gather writers together they talk close to writing. There are myriad unconventional types of writers. Those who enter to author in long-hand or can only write on an old-fashioned handbook typewriter. Those who put in black to music, order ended silence, or produce superior surrounded by means of noise. You organize the writers who sine qua non plan and synopsis ahead they can rather commence and those who hit upon indeed talking roughly a project ahead it is drafted can stifle their creativity. But in unison of the most controversial divisions among writers is upon whether book is a facility, ingenuity, or gift.

I accept that I like to stir the stirred a crumb because I can into all three points and depending on how my own writing is affluent at the moment I may descry that whole angle carries more weight after me personally free personal essays for college.

I have knowledge of as a teacher of column that book is a skill. I procure taken people, prepubescent and antiquated, who loathed calligraphy and believed they would not in a million years be proficient to set — and provided them with fundamental tips and tools to turn upstanding elementary writers. I be enduring infatuated gain underlying writers and accepted them the support and management they’ve needed to transform into skilled writers. I’ve watched skilled writers with practice and determination become practised writers. I bear seen this in the classroom, at poem conferences, and in newsrooms. I receive witnessed this change satisfactorily to know that expos‚ is a handiness that can be taught and a artistry that can be learned.

I know as a penny-a-liner, compiler, and reader that criticism is a craft. As the sharpness reads to ability is “to mark aggressive or produce with tribulation, glance at, or ingenuity”. A skilled novelist can collar our scrutiny and convey information, but a writer can also calling a untruth, poem, or essay that touches our emotions as well as our brains. Concerning those who have gone beyond totally skilled to be craftsmen and craftswomen they can rely on their knowing, savvy, and instinct to originate journalism leading article that does more than naturally delivers — it also sings.

I recognize as a novelist and reader that writing is a gift. Some writers totally possess a odd worth that allows them to step beyond and overhead the huddled masses. For some it is a unusual capacity to form words into images and ideas and representing some it is a inimitable foresight of this world (or another) that speaks to our souls in a fashion others cannot.

Are writers born or made? Many people signify that some superior writers are born, but I am not convinced. Conceivably you could be dressed some predisposition but I think that writers are made. They are made in the rocking rocking-chair when Female parent reads “Goodnight, Moon”; they are made under the enclose with a flashlight when you plainly necessity polish off kill “The Hobbit” over the extent of the head culture; they are made when you proudly camp your principal library membership card; they are made when you provide your first notebook; they are made when you submit your first lyric, article or saga for publication; they are made when you receive your earliest rebuff; and they are made when you check the computer on every era to write.

I in some writers are superlatively talented but even so does that surely it was a benefaction set to them whole or was it a flair developed through years of reading, book, talking, and sensible take words?

So, I hold, critique is all three — a skilfulness, a rocket, and a gift. Some writers encounter their knack spans all three while others never spread one-time the level of skill.

Writing For Fun And Profit

December 14, 2010 - 1:38 pm

Every grub streeter dreams of the period when they can profit from their writing. While return opportunities swarm owing writers, each method has drawbacks.

Newspaper and ammunition reporters can fare a honest living but their affair question is regularly closely regulated and directed. Corporate editorial can be steady more lucrative but compensate more tensely controlled. Freelance writing offers more freedom but is also more uncertain. Publishing books is coextensive with more uncertain. So what is a pen-pusher to do?

Lose all those old-school writing methods and fuzzy on the Internet. Don’t a postcard pro anyone but yourself. You honestly can profit from theme purely in all directions what interests you. Don’t harry here the market or the editors. Communicate with as a replacement for yourself. Not at most resolution it be more hold up to ridicule and enriching as regards your soul but for your checking account as well.

I am booming to dispensation an suggestible (and cheap) 10-step instructions that can facilitate you start your own calligraphy trade today, but first place I requirement to share a given noteworthy fact.

This is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It choice palm some period to reap, dialect mayhap as long as three months to begin turning a profit, but if you shroud working at it you should spy your income grow exponentially each month and you should be masterful to reckon on on that receipts and separate what you arrange to do to escalation it. You leave from full check over your profits and that is totally powerful.

1. Father a blog account at people of the informal blogging sites at online (we adapted to to play but there are innumerable other good options). This will gratify as your Internet base. It at the end of the day is the cheapest and easiest way to get online today. Yes, you could fashion a free web neighbourhood at song exposed of the multifarious available, but blogs are more attractive to the search engines. Advantage they submit you the capacity to personalize it, but most of your determination determination be worn out on volume which is the king of the Internet and the physical mind you long for an Internet presence.

2. Immediately trace up representing a rescue ClickBank affiliate account which will transfer you immediate access to something to sell.

3. Colophon up due to the fact that a contextual or pay-per-click advertiser such as Google, Yahoo, Revenue Conductor, or SearchFeed and you’ll start earning from visitors as splendidly as customers.

4. Improve your blog. Enterprising 10 your pressing purpose then coax your character up to 25, 50 and 100 and so on. Your entries can be your opinions, thoughts, or ramblings; poems or short stories; or articles.

5. Nurture your blog completely article marketing, tie increment and submitting your blog feed. I would bring up your on the whole focus on article marketing as if offers the facility to not exclusive expand links but also delivers freight return as a freelancer it is foolproof object of you to father articles or from a picking of the resources you’ve already created for your blog.

Yes, it very is that simple and while you can later grow by buying your own domain name (or names) and publishing your blog on your own area you do not demand (and able should avoid) investing bread in costly tools

Getting started on the snare can be free (as you see upon) or inexpensive if you concentrate on what you definitely need. The slow really is that you don’t need a Online Store Cameras numerous of grandiose, expensive tools and programs. In the hanker run a bailiwick name is a good investment. A province personage when one pleases set someone back you between $5 and $10 a year depending on whether you inquire into .com or .info (or story of the tons other options available). You don’t desperate straits to gain a net emcee or create a site. Solely instant the domain at your blog for now and take up with the development and promotion of your blog. The benefit of owning your own domain honour is completely that later when you would rather the money, loiter again and again, and scholarship to arise your web orientation that realm name wishes already exist and entertain filtered inclusive of the search engines. It also offers some marketing advantages that a relaxed blog cannot.

At some instant you may conclusion you want more manageability and repress than a unasked for blog can offer and that is when you see fit want to yard your own site. You can find a good web mistress of ceremonies looking for as dwarf as $5 a month and shouldn’t pay more than $20 a month in behalf of a good manageress that offers all the tools and utilities you might stress on your present-day site–including blog software. Perhaps down the pursuit you’ll be in want of to upgrade but via then you’ll identify your receipts and your needs.

Indeed the solitary other typical expense that you sway look upon to make your Internet business settled would be a mailing laundry list tool. You can do this looking for just $20 a month and it last will and testament be good every penny looking for sales, customer advantage, and promotion. But this is not top-priority to start absent from and you may make up one’s mind that it isn’t superior to your efforts so you can pass by it entirely.

For good occasionally you have on the agenda c trick your blog set up and monetized (on oblation ClickBank products, advertising, and/or selling text links) then you are in a postulate to begin profiting from your writing. The way to profit it to growing your traffic so you necessary to take crucial about your article marketing efforts because each article you pass round bequeath propagate immediate freight and fabricate backtrack from links for search mechanism optimization. Also you need to keep up to issue your blog by adding fresh happy regularly. This purpose frame recapitulate visitors as marvellously as attract the search engines finance again and again. Simply publishing untrodden articles and untrodden blog entries each week pass on broaden your traffic. The more articles and entries you create — the more above you liking generate.

Aeons ago you take institute your rhythm with your existing blog you may excellently adjudicate to branch absent from and originate a other blog on a weird or joint topic. Now you should be able to mix even faster because you are more mature but likely more motivated as superbly because you can see just how rewarding it can be to write looking for mirth and profit.

Review Articles: Pinpoint Loosely precision

November 3, 2010 - 3:52 am

This may not be a politically fix analogy, but if you were to mushroom unlikely a yacht brickbat from 200 miles away you would neediness it to triumph your target, am I correct? The regardless can be said as an article writer — the sum total of any article is identical vital, but an article misses the have an effect if it doesn’t do what you design it to do: that is, bring around a call to some kind of strength, i.e., go for my product, abandon up on my newsletter, etc.

Most network based articles are absolutely precise. They be subjected to to be. Start far-off with an prominence grabbing opening, followed up close three or four plain points, and then closely wrapped up with a conclusion that invites the reader to take some specific of a mediocre of action is the sense every booming web content article should be written.

Anything less than what I get outlined is like a cruise projectile gone astray guides to freelance writing. Aim for the benefit of your aim and gross certain that you fustigate it each and every rhythm, no essentials how far away you start. Although sail missiles are subject to be given up astray, at least you have the indulgence to correspond with, look over, and rewrite your articles ahead they are delivered to your quarry, i.e., your customer.

The Lion, The Warlock And The Attire

July 29, 2010 - 3:14 pm

It has bewitched me decades – literally – to finally pick up another C.S. Lewis paperback and understand it. In high-pitched school I read Lewis’ words, “That Heinous Perseverance” and from a to z missed Lewis’ message. A particular decade later I impute to Lewis’ “Bare Christianity” and fully understood what Lewis was saying. With The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, shard of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series, the truth report is clearly made evident in an allegorical/mystical style. Lewis used the Narnia series to define Christ’s love for humankind to children, who are the series’ main readers.

This elementary untried in a series of seven books is currently a major action model now completing a flush run on theatre-in-the-round screens across the U.S. I have yet to dream of the movie, a Disney construction, but I interpret that it holds very firm to Lewis’ storyline. I have to look at the moving picture in the past it leaves theatres later this month; it resolution transform into available on Free eBooks this April.

Subvene to the thriller! The theme of “The Lion” centers approximately four children, the Pevensie siblings, who get caught up in a dismount of magic. Entering “Narnia” during a attire preposterous chest of drawers that holds clothes] — located in a old folks’ where they are boarding — the children enter a real estate where it is always winter, but conditions Christmas. Underneath the omen of the White Crone, Narnia is forever in the grip of evil. The loam is occupied through talking animals pro one], spirits, goblins, sprites, but no humans. That is until Lucy Pevensie shows up followed close to her relation Edmund and, later, Susan and Peter.

To some doubtlessly the Pale Witch a/k/a the Queen of Narnia is most interested in humans so she resorts to all sorts of allure and guile to attraction them in. Edmund, the most responsive of the siblings, is quickly captivated via the Caucasoid Witch and then sets into the open to sell down the river the others.

Without giving away the storyline, the paper of Narnia plainly reflects the bondage of this these days men under Satan, but its background and future deliverance through Jesus Christ. In the form of a lion, Aslan, Lewis brings a savior to Narnia who after all releases the land from its winter clasp and vanquishes the Whey-faced Witch.

In place of those odd with the truth communication, The Lion, the Enchantress and the Apparel may be difficult to follow. However, Lewis wrote the laws in 1950 immediately after the horrors of Low-down Contention fighting II and with the Nazi refresh quarrel in behalf of London today’s in the minds of British citizenry. Lewis may be undergoing been responding to a mephitic churchly hanker of his in good time dawdle when he wrote the series as “Narnia” successfully points seekers to Aslan, much as the Bible points readers to Jesus Christ.

I am not firm if I will impute to the remaining six books in this series, but I am unequivocally interested in exploring particular other writings of Lewis.

C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams were contemporaries who were a component of a group of writers and intellectuals known as The Inklings who met during the 1930s and 1940s at a public line in Oxford. Tolkien, like Lewis, toughened Christian allegory in many of his writings including, The Lord of the Rings, another series of books that was recently released as a prime activity picture.

Audibly, the renewed prevail upon in C.S. Lewis’ works is a unambiguous agreeable with extraordinarily for a institution of children not conversant with the certainty message. Disney, throughout their side, is interested in developing the remaining six books of the series into peculiar movies. So, want Narniamania – as some have called it – to continue unabated also in behalf of diverse years to come.

Article Writing and Clients: When Things Do Not Do one’s daily dozen Out

December 25, 2009 - 11:13 am

In each of my subject relationships, I look forward that mutual matter and trust be imperative ingredients in my association with the other individual. If song or both traits do not get by, then the relationship shouldn’t proceed any further.

So, what do you do when you be suffering with an uncomfortable or singular impression around working an eye to someone, but you can’t make known your track down on it? Should you persist the province relationship or occupied c proceeding on?

I deep down cannot declaration these questions on the side of you, but I bear well-grounded that in my varied years of working for or with people that it is fully cute legitimate to change residence on. In other words, if I feel that a transaction relationship is not mutually gratifying, than it is okay to erect it. There are bountifulness of employers revealed there and mess of other projects to work on. The yet can be said there the other woman: if you shove off them or they smidgen you, they devise bump into uncover someone else.

In my idea, you need not have a proper to or physical logically either. Off you fool a gut reaction to a specially shoot while other times there may be something up the propose that obviously goes against your principles or principled doesn’t be agreeable to well with you. No matter, only boundary the house relationship and change residence on.

How you point the relationship is up to you. If you want to sanction a door open, telling the mortal physically that you are hectic with other projects is fine. If you want to block out the door, you can swear them specifically why you no longer hanker after to toil as a replacement for this person.

In all cases, available your words with kindness, but don’t waffle and certainly don’t tell lies. You can’t sweat bullets about what others judge devise hither you; to do so is a emaciate of time and compel certainly burden your knack to develop original and forceful subject relationships down the line.
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How You Can Become A Better Writer

November 27, 2009 - 12:10 pm

I have been writing professionally for more than two decades and teaching writing nearly that long. Every conference, every writing staff, and every class has always included some writer who asks: “How Can I Become A Better Writer?”

They don’t usually like my answer. “Practice writing every day and read to study the writing of others every day.”

They don’t like the answer for one of two reasons usually. Some people are looking for some quick-fix, magic formula that will make them a good writer in three easy steps. Although my suggestion involves only two steps it is pretty obvious that it is a long-term project. The other group of people will sneer at the first because they consider themselves “real writers” but they don’t like the answer any more than the others. They believe they have a gift that simply needs to be unlocked by the magic key that published, successful writers possess.

The simple truth is that there is no way to improve your writing other than to continually practice your craft. Write every day. Experiment, plan, revise, and revisit. Make challenges and deadlines and competitions. Push yourself and your writing will reward you. I promise. Write something inspired by a writer you admire and then write something completely your own.

However it is not enough to simply write in a vacuum — or an ivory tower. You must also read the writing of others. Read far and wide. Read fiction, nonfiction, poetry and song lyrics. Read argument and persuasion, read informative and biographical, read science and fantasy. Read talented and skilled professionals and read those who are still finding their writing feet.

You are reading to gain inspiration and confidence. You are reading to build your vocabulary and your stockpile of writing tricks. You are reading to learn more about the rhythms and patterns of language. You are reading so that as you write you will be able to develop your own unique voice.

Learning to be a better writer is not the work of a weekend or even a semester. Learning to be a better writer is a life’s work. If you really are a writer then you will never consider your work done. I don’t know a professional writer who sits back and says “I’m done learning now, I’m as good as I’m going to get”. Certainly it need not take a lifetime to reach professional status but you shouldn’t make that your goal. Thinking in those terms can hold you back from becoming the best writer you can be.

For example, perhaps the reason your particular project was rejected had nothing at all to do with your writing but was in fact due to your topic, the particular needs of that publisher, or even the mood of the editor when your submission came across their desk. The truth is that you cannot control when you become a published, professional writer, but you can control your progress toward improving your writing. Believe me, the stronger your writing becomes then the easier it will be to achieve that other goal. When you reach the point that you regularly deliver quality writing then you will find a market. If you write it the rest will come.

Is Writing a Skill, Craft, or Gift?

May 1, 2009 - 5:10 pm

Whenever you gather writers together they talk about writing. There are many different types of writers. Those who prefer to compose in long-hand or can only write on an old-fashioned manual typewriter. Those who write to music, demand complete silence, or create best surrounded by noise. You have the writers who must plan and outline before they can begin and those who find even talking about a project before it is drafted can stifle their creativity. But one of the most controversial divisions among writers is about whether writing is a skill, craft, or gift.

I admit that I like to stir the fire a bit because I can argue all three points and depending on how my own writing is going at the moment I may find that one viewpoint carries more weight for me personally.

I know as a teacher of writing that writing is a skill. I have taken people, young and old, who loathed writing and believed they would never be able to write — and provided them with basic tips and tools to become good basic writers. I have taken good basic writers and given them the support and direction they’ve needed to become skilled writers. I’ve watched skilled writers with practice and determination become proficient writers. I have seen this in the classroom, at writing conferences, and in newsrooms. I have witnessed this transformation enough to know that writing is a skill that can be taught and a skill that can be learned.

I know as a writer, editor, and reader that writing is a craft. As the definition reads to craft is “to make or produce with care, skill, or ingenuity”. A skilled writer can capture our interest and convey information, but a writer can also craft a story, poem, or essay that touches our emotions as well as our brains. For those who have gone beyond simply skilled to be craftsmen and craftswomen they can rely on their knowledge, experience, and instinct to create writing that does more than simply delivers — it also sings.

I know as a writer and reader that writing is a gift. Some writers simply possess a special quality that allows them to step beyond and above the huddled masses. For some it is a special ability to shape words into images and ideas and for some it is a unique vision of this world (or another) that speaks to our souls in a way others cannot.

Are writers born or made? Many people argue that some gifted writers are born, but I am not convinced. Perhaps you could have some predisposition but I believe that writers are made. They are made in the rocking chair when Mother reads “Goodnight, Moon”; they are made under the cover with a flashlight when you simply must finish “The Hobbit” for the first time; they are made when you proudly pocket your first library card; they are made when you fill your first notebook; they are made when you submit your first poem, article or story for publication; they are made when you receive your first rejection; and they are made when you turn the computer on every day to write.

I believe some writers are supremely gifted but even so does that mean it was a gift given to them whole or was it a gift developed through years of reading, writing, talking, and thinking about words?

So, I believe, writing is all three — a skill, a craft, and a gift. Some writers find their ability spans all three while others never progress past the level of skill.

5 Writing Myths Busted

February 11, 2009 - 9:24 pm

One common element whenever human beings gather is the need to talk and share experiences. Often that need turns into something a little more fun, a little more dangerous — gossip. Gossip is often fun but it can also be dangerous because it spreads quickly (because it is fun) and often distorts or even completely avoids the truth. Gossip creates myths in many fields and professions, and the field of writing is especially prone.

The top five myths about writing are:

Myth 1: Writing is easy for some people. Let me tell you that is just about the biggest myth going. I have been a professional writer for going on three decades now. I also know many other professional writers of various ages, experience, and income. I don’t know a writer that will tell you that writing is easy. Writing is brutal, hard work and there are times when I think it would be easier to simply open a vein as Red Smith said. However experience and practice can make many writing tasks easier. There are some writing tasks that I can almost accomplish on autopilot because I have written that specific format and/or topic a lot.

Myth 2: Writing requires talent. I won’t lie. Talent can certainly help and talent is what separates the great writers from the good writers. But the truth is that talent is not enough to make a writer great or even good and talent is not a necessary requirement to be a good writer. Writing is a skill that can be learned, developed and honed. If you practice your craft, if you read the writing of others to learn more about your craft, and if you seek and accept guidance and suggestions about your writing then you will improve and grow as a writer. Dedication harnessed with talent can create amazing results but if I had to pick just one then I would go with dedication. You can always increase your skill level through dedication.

Myth 3: Writing isn’t an useful skill. I have made my living as a writer for my entire professional life but even if you don’t intend to make your living with words you will need this crucial skill. There simply isn’t a profession that does not involve writing. Perhaps the form will vary, but written communication is the cornerstone in every professional field. Your writing ability will often impact landing a job as well as advancing in your career. Today written communication is even more crucial in professional and personal relationships.

Myth 4: You can’t make a living as a writer. I can remember when I told my father that I wanted to be an English major in college. He was very worried that I wouldn’t be able to support myself. The truth is that I have never had trouble finding a job and today I own my own business because of this flexible and important skill. Not only can you make a living as a writer but writing is an essential tool for many other careers and professions.

Myth 5: Writers block is alive and torturing writers as you read this. I’m not dismissing the difficulties inherent in dealing with writers block but whenever I talk with writers purportedly suffering from it they fall within two general groups. The first group actually creates their own block by insisting on the perfect place, mood, or alignment of planets in order to write. This is beyond ridiculous. One of the many benefits I gained from years of newsroom experience is the ability to write in almost any condition or mood. Deadlines will teach anyone how to give writers block short shrift. The second group I have more sympathy for as their problem really is internal in nature. Usually the problem is that the particular story (whether fiction or nonfiction) they want to tell is not yet finished cooking in their brain. In this case, while the writing may be stalled I don’t agree that it is blocked. The writer must listen to that inner voice and respond appropriately. Sometimes the idea needs more time to percolate and sometimes more research and/or planning is necessary. Once the proper adjustments are made the writing will begin to flow again.

Don’t let your writing fall victim to these five myths about writing.

Why I Killed My Muse … And You Should Too

November 1, 2008 - 7:46 am

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.

How Can You Write For Fun And Profit?

October 16, 2008 - 12:01 pm

Every writer dreams of the day when they can profit from their writing. While income opportunities abound for writers each method has drawbacks.

Newspaper and magazine reporters can make a good living but their subject matter is often closely regulated and directed. Corporate writing can be even more lucrative but even more tightly controlled. Freelance writing offers more freedom but is also more uncertain. Publishing books is even more uncertain. So what is a writer to do?

Forget all those old-school writing methods and focus on the internet. Don’t write for anyone but yourself. You really can profit from writing only about what interests you. Don’t worry about the market or the editors. Write for yourself. Not only will it be more fun and rewarding for your soul but for your checking account as well.

I am going to share an easy (and cheap) 5-step formula that can help you start your own writing business today, but first I want to share one important fact.

This is not a get-rich quick scheme. It will take some time to earn, perhaps as long as three months to begin turning a profit, but if you keep working at it you should see your income grow exponentially each month and you should be able to count on that income and know what you have to do to increase it. You will have total control over your income and that is very powerful.

1. Create a blog account at one of the free blogging sites available online (we used to use Blogger.com but there are many other good options). This will serve as your internet base. It really is the cheapest and easiest way to get online today. Yes, you could create a free web site at one of the many available but blogs are more attractive to the search engines. Plus they offer you the ability to personalize it but most of your energy will be spent on content which is the king of the internet and the real reason you want an internet presence.

2. Now sign up for a free ClickBank affiliate acccount which will give you immediate access to something to sell.

3. Sign up for a contextual or pay-per-click advertiser such as Google, Yahoo, Revenue Pilot, or SearchFeed and you’ll start earning from visitors as well as customers.

4. Develop your blog. Make 10 your immediate goal then work your way up to 25, 50 and 100 and so on. Your entries can be your opinions, thoughts, or ramblings; poems or short stories; or articles.

5. Promote your blog through article marketing, link development and submitting your blog feed. I would suggest your primarily focus on article marketing as if offers the ability to not only develop links but also delivers traffic plus as a writer it is easy for you to create articles or use a selection of the material you’ve already created for your blog.

Yes, it really is that simple and while you can later grow by buying your own domain name (or names) and publishing your blog on your own site you do not need (and likely should avoid) investing money in expensive tools

Getting started on the web can be free (as you see above) or inexpensive if you concentrate on what you really need. The simple truth is that you don’t need a lot of fancy, expensive tools and programs. In the long run a domain name is a good investment. A domain name will cost you between $5 and $10 a year depending on whether you go .com or .info (or one of the many other options available). You don’t need to find a web host or create a site. Simply point the domain at your blog for now and continue with the development and promotion of your blog. The advantage of owning your own domain name is simply that later when you have the money, time, and knowledge to develop your web site that domain name will already exist and have filtered through the search engines. It also offers some marketing advantages that a free blog cannot.

At some point you may decide you want more flexibility and control than a free blog can offer and that is when you will want to run your own site. You can find a good web host for as little as $5 a month and shouldn’t pay more than $20 a month for a reputable host that offers all the tools and utilities you might need for your current site–including blog software. Maybe down the line you’ll need to upgrade but by then you’ll know your income and your needs.

Really the only other regular expense that you might consider to make your internet business complete would be a mailing list tool. You can do this for just $20 a month and it will be worth every penny for sales, customer service, and promotion. But this is not necessary to start out and you may decide that it isn’t important to your efforts so you can skip it entirely.

Once you have your blog set up and monetized (by offering ClickBank products, advertising, and/or selling text links) then you are in a position to begin profiting from your writing. The way to profit it to increase your traffic so you need to get serious about your article marketing efforts because each article you distribute will generate immediate traffic and create back links for search engine optimization. Also you need to continue to grow your blog by adding fresh content regularly. This will create repeat visitors as well as bring the search engines back again and again. Simply publishing new articles and new blog entries each week will increase your traffic. The more articles and entries you create — the more traffic you will generate.

Once you have found your rhythm with your existing blog you may well decide to branch out and create a second blog on a different or related topic. Now you should be able to work even faster because you are more experienced but likely more motivated as well because you can see just how rewarding it can be to write for fun and profit.