And End of Summer Writing Prompt

At a loss for what to write for this month’s blog post, I finally settled on a post about a writing prompt. 

We just returned from a weekend away, to attend a family wedding. It was also a visit to our past.

We drove by former homes and schools.We wondered what was still there, what had been torn down, and what had changed.We did see some differences, but everything looked in good shape.

We ate at two old haunts. One was a pizza place, the other was a locally owned ice cream store. Pizza and chocolate ice cream – two of my favorites!

A family cookout was held Friday night, for those not involved in the wedding. Swimming was also part of the evening, but the water was too cold – for August. No one would have guessed this when plans were made. However, the kids went swimming, while the adults watched.  

Some new stores had opened, some old ones were still in business, either in the same location or a different one, and some had closed. The public library had also undergone a transformation that included an expansion for each department.

The wedding was held in an old country church that had been attended by generations of relatives. Next to it is a cemetery, where they were buried years ago. We paid them a visit. 

Getting together with long-time friends, for food, fellowship and fun, capped off the weekend. 

What a trip down memory lane.

Write a story about your childhood or your early adult years.You may include a favorite restaurant, an event from school or a memory about a house you lived in years ago. Perhaps you could write about a much loved relative or a family gathering.What feelings do these memories bring back? I hope you feel inspired and are able to add something to a WIP or begin something new.

Debbie A. Byrne has a B.S. in Mass Communication with a minor in History. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and is working on her first children’s book.

Nurturing a Writer

Summer is winding down in Chicago.  Schools are beginning to welcome back their students.  Street festivals and concerts in the park are dwindling.  I’m gearing up for the numerous activities that kick into my life in the fall, but wait…what happened to summer vacation?  What happen to rest, relaxation and a little fun?  Somehow, I let life get in the way. Fortunately, it’s never too late for a little self-pampering.  While I’m at it, I’m going to nurture the writer in me.

Here’s what I’m putting on my list…

·         A day at the beach with a chair, sunscreen and a trashy novel

·         An evening talking with an old friend

·         A Sunday afternoon with a good book

·         An hour with a notebook to write nothing in particular and see what happens

·         Good coffee and chocolate

·         A picnic in the park with a jazz concert

·         A visit with the Jellies at the aquarium

·         Hmmm…I think I could go on and on.

I may have rushed through summer, but it’s never too late to rest, recharge and become inspired.  What about you?  Do you have some end of the season pampering for the writer in you?

Mary Jo Guglielmo is writer and intuitive life coach who helps clients live their true north.  For more information check out  www.donorth.biz   or folllow her at:

http://theadvantagepoint.wordpress.com

http://twitter.com/do_north

http://facebook.com/DoNorth.biz  

Don't Talk to Me -- Show Me!

     "Don't talk of love! Show me!" sings Eliza in My Fair Lady. That comment could come from readers too.

Dialogue is often a challenge for writers, yet it is so important, whether you're writing a modern or historical novel, or a non-fiction anecdote. As the writer, you want your reader to see your characters as people living in a real world. One way to do this is to show the reader the scene, not just tell them the spoken words.

Next time someone tells you a story, concentrate on your own reactions. You'll find you don't just hear the words. You see the expression on the speaker's face, and you're aware of others in the room. You notice what they do with their hands and whether they look at you directly or avoid your eyes. In fact, if the story goes on too long, you may have difficulty even concentrating on what they're trying to tell you.

Don't just give your reader the words. Give them enough information that they can picture the entire scene, not just the speaker.

Let's say I want to show my reader that the neighbour across the road from my main character is an interfering old lady. I decide to use dialogue to make the point. I could say,

The old lady from across the road came in the door and said, "I just popped across to bring you this little pot of jam. I was given two, and you know, I hardly ever use it. I also wondered if you were aware that the children are playing outside in their school uniforms? They are climbing the mulberry trees in the front yard and they could tear them. Besides, those white shirts must be so difficult to get clean. And what a cute little boy this is."

How boring is that? You know what she said, but that's about all. How about . . .

     Coo-ee!"

     Marsha wiped the last of the egg yolk from Bobby's face and hands as her neighbour walked uninvited through the front door and into the room. "Hello, Mrs. Cartwright. What can I do for you?"

     "I just popped across to bring you this little pot of jam. I was given two, and you know, with living alone, I hardly ever use it. I'm sure with all your children you use lots of jam for sandwiches and things." The old lady glanced around the untidy room with a look of disapproval written across her lined face.

     "Thank you so much. Please put it down on the table." Marsha handed the little boy a plastic cup of milk and waited for the real reason for her neighbour's visit. She had only lived across the road from Mrs. Millicent Cartwright for just over a month, but she knew there was a better reason than a pot of jam.

     “Dear—I wondered if you were aware that the children are playing outside in their school uniforms? They are climbing the mulberry trees again, and I thought you should know." Marsha rescued the cup of milk from being turned upside down and placed it on the nearby counter. "Those white shirts must be so difficult to get clean," the old lady continued. She reached out and patted Bobby on the cheek, then pulled her hand back in alarm as the toddler swung his head round and opened his mouth.

     "Oh, my goodness! Does he bite?"

     "No, Mrs. Cartwright. Not usually." Not unless silly old ladies pat him on the cheek when he's stuck in his high chair and can't escape. "Thank you for being concerned about the children's shirts." Marsha lifted the little boy from his high-chair. "I told the twins they could pick me some mulberries before going for a bath. Their shirts are already dirty."

     She hid a smile as the old lady stepped back hastily to avoid Bobby as he raced past her on unsteady legs to see what the twins were up to.


Better? Hopefully you not only know what the old lady had to say, but you have learned more about her and her relations with the family across the road.

So next time you want to share some dialogue with your reader, "Don't talk of whatever--show them!"

OVER TO YOU: What action in the above excerpt drew you into the story the most? Please respond in the comment section.

SHIRLEY CORDER  lives a short walk from the seaside in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, with her husband Rob. She is author of Strength Renewed: Meditations for your Journey through Breast Cancer. Shirley is also contributing author to ten other books and has published hundreds of devotions and articles internationally. 

Visit Shirley on her website to inspire and encourage writers, or on Rise and Soar, her website for encouraging those on the cancer journey. 

Follow her on Twitter or "like" her Author's page on Facebook, and now that she has a GPS, she may even follow you back.

Website Hosting - A Bluehost Back to School Special You Don’t Want to Miss

Everyone who wants to sell a service or product or who simply wants a place to voice their thoughts and opinions needs a website. This includes authors, writers, and marketers.

While websites come from a number of sources, free and paid for, it’s the ones with paid hosting that offers the greatest support and freedom.

I don't usually make a promo post, but I use Bluehost for all my website hosting needs and I appreciate their service so much, I’m an affiliate for them.

Being an affiliate, I learn of new deals and pricing AND from August 19th through August 25th, Bluehost is having a SUPER SPECIAL:

12 months - $5.95/mo
24 months - $4.95/mo
36 months - $3.95/mo (best option)

This is an amazing offer.

So, if you’ve been procrastinating about signing up with a hosting service, or if you’re new to the writing and marketing arena, you should absolutely take advantage of this special pricing.

If you’re not sure what some of the difference are between free hosting and paid hosting, let me explain.

Free hosting comes from services, like Blogger.com and Weebly.com. They do provide some useful features, but they are lacking compared to paid services, like Bluehost.

For example, with Blogger you don’t have the ability to optimize your images and you’re limited to 10 pages per site. When it comes to SEO, this is a big deal.

With Weebly, you are only allowed up to six pages per site.

With Bluehost, you can create as many pages as you want on your site. And, there are unlimited domains on ONE account. This means if you sign-up with Bluehost, you can create as many websites (with different domain names) as you like. I currently have about 10 sites.

In addition, free services don’t have support if something goes wrong with your site. Or, if they do, it’s a pain-in-the-neck: difficult to find, difficult to navigate and difficult to get prompt answers. I've just been through this with Blogger.

One of the other BIG differences between the two is Google loves WordPress and most free sites don't support it. This will also affect your SEO efforts.

This folks, is a no-brainer. If you need a website this is the time to get it. If you choose the 36 month plan, you pay only $3.95 per month!

CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP FOR BLUEHOST.COM TODAY!

Still not sure?

To make this special offer even better, if you order through me, I’ll add in Create Your Author-Writer Online Platform eCourse Option No.1. You can check it out at: http://www.karencioffi.com/author-online-platform-ecourse/ (scroll down to the Options section). It's a $67 value!

Just send me your receipt. I’ll verify it with Bluehost and then send you your bonus ecourse!

SIMPLY CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW (Although it says $6.95, once you click on the image you'll be brought to the $3.95 page)



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While you're here, please sign up for The Writing World (top right sidebar).

Create an MP3 Podcast - The NO Frills No Cost Way Using Audacity

WRITERS ON THE MOVE'S NEXT WEBINAR IS SCHEDULED:

TITLE: Create an MP3 Podcast - The NO Frills No Cost Way Using Audacity
DAY: Friday, August 23, 2013
TIME: 4PM EST (USA)
DURATION: 30-60 minutes
COST: FREE

Description:

Want to get a simple MP3 audio up on your site?

If you don’t already have one, you should. Marketing studies show that people love video and audio.

Using multiple formats to communicate reaches people on various levels. This means your message is hitting a broader target.

I’ve procrastinated for quite a while before getting to it and creating my own MP3s. And, if I can do it, anyone can.

Since I don’t have much time, just like you, I took the NO frills, No fuss way to get a podcast up quick and simple. And, at NO cost.

This webinar will show, in 20 steps, how I create the podcasts I use for my website introductions. It includes uploading the finished MP3 audio into your website’s Library and getting it onto your sidebar or page.

And, again, it’s at NO cost to create!

Invest 45 to 60 minutes of your time to see how easy it is. I’ll be using screen-sharing and creating a podcast while you watch.

REGISTRATION FORM URL: http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E958DE84814E3B

Sign up today!

NOTE: All registrants, if not already a subscriber, will be added to The Writing World's email list.

~~~~~
I hope to see you there,
Karen

Finding Real Writing Jobs

by Suzanne Lieurance, the Working Writer's Coach

If you want to make a living as a freelance writer today, you may wonder how you go about finding real writing jobs or how to write for money.



The good news is, there are more ways than EVER to make money as a freelance writer. And, to me, a real writing job is simply one that pays well for the materials written.

But as you're trying to develop your own freelance writing career, here's one tip to remember - don't expect to create a career you'll LOVE by doing things you HATE to do.

For example, do you hate cold calling?

If so, then I don't care how successful OTHER writers are at this, you'll probably NEVER build the freelance writing career of your dreams by making cold calls to businesses to see if they have some freelance work you could do for them.

Instead, think of other creative ways to build your career.

Here are just a few real writing jobs you should be able to find without making cold calls:

1. Start out writing for no-pay, low-pay publications. You'll find many of these markets in your own backyard. Others you'll find through online job boards.

2. Next, move up from the small local publications to regional publications (which are just a bit bigger and pay just a bit better). You'll gain experience with editors while you build your writing skills and your clips file (publication credits) as you're earning a few bucks.

3. If you wish to write for local businesses, join your local business association and become an active member. Get to know the other members and network with them so they know exactly what you can do for them.

Don't stop with just one group, join several local business groups, so you get to know many small business professionals in your area.

4. Join a group of other working freelance writers. You can network with these other writers to find writing jobs. I've gotten several book contracts this way.

5. Think "outside the box" a little when it comes to the types of things you will consider writing on assignment. If you actively network with other "working" writers and you actively search online job boards regularly, you should be able to find assignments in any or all of these areas:

Item writing for educational publishers
Resume writing for individuals
Creating Artists' Statements
Writing Press Releases for small businesses, authors, etc.
Writing Adaptations (of fairy tales and folk tales) for mass market publishers
Ghost Writing (books and short stories for businesses and individuals)
Writing Product Reviews
Writing Book Reviews
Writing Site Reviews
Creating Entries for Online Encyclopedias
Writing Articles for Trade Magazines
Blogging for businesses
Creating White Papers & Case Studies

This list can go on and on.

Also, start creating your own information products for a specific target niche. My target niche just happens to be other writers (since I'm a writing coach), but your target market could be something entirely different.

The main thing is not to WAIT for the perfect freelance writing career to fall in your lap. It won't. You have to build your own business, one step at a time. But fortunately, that isn't difficult to do in today's busy world.

Try it!

******************************

Suzanne Lieurance is an author, freelance writer, a certified professional life coach and writing coach, speaker and workshop presenter. She lives and writes by the sea in Jensen Beach, Florida. Find out how she can coach you to the writing career of your dreams at www.workingwriterscoach.com.

Dialog that Delivers

Dialog is such an integral part of writing and when it's good

your writing soars,

so when it is bad,

well let's just say

it does the opposite.

Here's ten tips to keep your dialog from sounding false, too formal or flat.

1. Listen: You will often find me at the local malls or in coffee shops listening to people and writing down snippets of conversations. Why? I find it's the best way for me to review exactly how people talk.  

2. Read your dialog out loud: If you read your dialog out loud and it sounds stiff you know you've got it wrong. Easy fix: check your dialog and use contractions whenever possible. Most of us speak using contractions and shorter sentences.

3. Don't talk too much: Keep your dialog short and snappy and you'll find you keep your readers happy. Long passages of dialog are difficult to read.

4. Break up dialog with action: To prevent talking too much, break up dialog with action. Have your character sit, stand, stretch or do yoga poses. Have them carry, settle, sigh and lean. Have them do anything that will keep your reader interested. 

5. Don't use dialog to tell info already known: Pet peeve  #1 is dialog that tells the reader a lot of stuff that the other character should know already. For example: "Remember how last year when we went to the cabin and we sat on the porch. How the lake looked so calm and then the storm rose and a tornado took the house next door completely away? The whole building gone, just like that. I'd never been so frightened in my life. You said you hadn't either."Dialog might not be the way to give your reader all that information. In fact, I'm sure it isn't.

6. Don't overdo unique tags: Readers tend to skip right over he said/she said, which is a good thing. They stop long enough to get their bearings, but are not distracted. Overdoing unique tags brings focus to the tags and away from your dialog. Use sparingly: questioned, asked, inquired, squealed, squeaked, spoke, snarled, stammered, etc. 

7. Cut out unnecessary responses: I know you say, "Hello," and then your friend says, "Hello." Or you say, "Do you want coffee?" and your spouse says, "Yes," but in dialog you can often refrain from using "hello," "goodbye," "Yes, and "No." Instead, keep the dialog and action moving.

8. People argue: Yes, that's what happens in conversations. People argue and try to get their point across and insist they are right. This creates conflict. Conflict is good. Use it in your dialog whenever you can.

9. Create distinct voices: Work to distinguish all your characters by their voices. You can do this with word choice, the order in which words are spoken or by using dialect. Word of advice: go easy on dialect. A word or two is all that is necessary to let us know they are Scottish, French or from The South.

10. Finally, punctuate correctly: 

"I'm sure that's not what happened," she said. Comma inside the final quote, lower case "s" on she. "I'm sure that's not what happened." She rose. Period inside the final quote and upper case "S" on she. 

"I'm sure that's not what happened!" she said. Exclamation inside quote, and lower case "s" on she.

"I'm sure that's not what happened!" She rose. Exclamation inside quote, and upper case "S" on she.

"I'm sure that's not what happened," she said, "at least that's not how I remember it." When the sentence continues, use commas inside final quotes and after "said." 

Use single quotes inside double quotes if you are quoting someone else within the quote. 

Keep these tips in mind and you'll find yourself writing dialog that rocks your reader's world!

_____________________________

D. Jean Quarles is a writer of Women's Fiction and a co-author of a Young Adult Science Fiction Series. Her latest book, Flight from the Water Planet, Book 1 of The Exodus Series was written with coauthor, Austine Etcheverry.

D. Jean loves to tell stories of personal growth – where success has nothing to do with money or fame, but of living life to the fullest. She is also the author of the novels: Rocky's Mountains, Fire in the Hole and, Perception. The Mermaid, an award winning short story was published in the anthology, Tales from a Sweltering City.

She is a wife, mother, grandmother and business coach. In her free time . . . ha! ha! ha! Anyway, you can find more about D. Jean Quarles, her writing and her books at her website at www.djeanquarles.com

You can also follower her at www.djeanquarles.blogspot.com or on Facebook