As both a writer and writing instructor I often taught the importance of introductions and conclusions; however, it does not do to overlook the body of your article or essay. After all, no matter how intriguing your introduction or how compelling your conclusion is, if the body of your essay falls flat then you will have failed as a writer. Creating a powerful and effective body for your essay or article is not challenging if you plan carefully, write meaningfully, and rev...

When crafting a piece of writing it is important to define who the audience for the piece will be. It doesn?t matter if the piece is fiction, non-fiction or technical. What is important is knowing a little bit about your intended reader. Some writers get very specific and their intended audience becomes some like this: A single Caucasian mother, age 32, three children, owner of a mini-van, listens to light rock and lives in an apartment complex. You may not need to g...

When writing an article or story, how exactly do you decide what to write? Do your characters develop as you go when writing fiction? Does your plot unfold by chance? Do you have a clear idea of where your story or article is going before you actually begin to write? I have to admit there are times when I just start writing and worry about the details later. Interestingly, it is a unique exercise in taking something without purpose and finding one for it. However, there is...

When writing articles, stories for full blown manuscripts it is often in your best interest to avoid common phrases or colloquialisms. Many writers refer to the overuse of these phrases as cliché and they avoid them like the plague. It may take some work to find new ways to say something you?ve relied on clichés to say for you. Two exercises I have used for this is to pick a vocabulary list and only use words on that list to compose a thought. It?s amazing how creative ...

A writer is sitting at his desk trying to work on an article that is due tomorrow. He knows what he wants to say, but he just can not seem to put it into words. He decides to pull out his trusty thesaurus to try to find the right words to convey his message. The writer finds some words that he thinks will fit perfectly into his article, but he is not sure, because they are outside his vocabulary. The writer consults his dictionary to make sure that the words he has found actu...

Sometimes putting things in perspective is useful when trying to gain a clear understanding of the many facets of the publishing world. This article is intended to provide some random statistics to help you understand the publishing world a little better. Did You Know? Nearly 80% of all book titles made available each year are published by small publishers or are self published? Nearly 50% of all book sales are attributed to the five major publishing houses in New...

You might be a published author if... You've ever printed up several copies of your work and passed them out at the mall. You've ever written something pithy on a restaurant napkin and left it for the waitstaff. You've ever written a poem in the memo of your checkbook. You've ever published a selection of stories in a three ring binder for neighbors as a 'welcome to the neighborhood' gift. The truth is, the definition of a published author might be more encompa...

No matter what kind of writing you consider your forte you might want to consider the use of a ?learning log?. The process of writing generally requires research. Unless you are recounting personal events in a first person non-fiction narrative the use of research tools is a highly valued counterpart to effective writing. A learning log is simply a journal with notes that are specific to the subject matter you are seeking to write. It is possible to write without a l...

You've probably watched a movie where you observe the lead character in a quiet, contemplative moment. It's not long before you hear a sound similar to a camera and the movie shifts to an event from the past that provides a clue about what is happening to the character in the present. This is a common technique in storytelling called flashback (analepsis). The use of this technique often adds a sense of mystery to the story. The use of flashback allows the author of the st...

The old adage "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" should apply to the world of literature as well - although we shouldn't be surprised when it is not perceived that way. In order to imitate a certain style requires one of two approaches. The first is designed to imitate the style for the purpose of creating a similar work. The second approach is the theme of this article - parody. Parody has been described as, "a piece of writing that mocks a particular litera...