Category Archives: Idea

New Book Projects, Job Searches, & Seventh Sanctum

You may have noticed that the past couple of days, I have not been posting as often as I was; from 4 or 5 posts a day to about one every other day. There is a reason, quite simple. I got an idea for a new book, and spent the last few days researching it. As ever, one thing lead to another and now I’ve got ideas for three new books and have been working on them all at once. Of course, me writing longhand means I wasn’t online, meaning I was not here to blog. Sorry.

Other reason, is I’m still out searching for a job type job, but have yet to find one. As usual I am told that businesses just won’t hire someone who had never been to school, or someone my age who has never had a job before. 😦 (Apperantly, 7 years as a door to door salesman for Avon, doesn’t count as a job, nor does 27 years of writing… or so I’m told by interviewers.) It is getting quite depressing, as I have been seeking a job since May of 2006 and now May 2007 is just around the corner and still all of my endless applications and interviews have turned up nothing. I’m now having a hard time finding places that I have not yet applied to. I feel like I’ve run up against a brick wall, cause I’m still intent on finding a job, yet I can not find any place that I have not already been turned down.

Well, after a day of searching classified ads and online job searches, I have given it a rest for the night and am back here to say hi to you all and let you know what I’d been doing and thinking. Columbo is on TV right now, so I’m gonna go watch that now, after which I’ll be heading to Seventh Sanctum in search of some ideas for my 3 new book projects. Seventh Sanctum is such a great site, I get loads of ideas from them. If you haven’t checked them out yet, be sure to do so.

~~EK

What Does “Non-Genre” Mean?

Many publications say they only accept “Non-Genre Fiction”. A common question writers ask is: “What is Non-Genre Fiction? Doesn’t all fiction have a genre?” I had just read this post and noticed a debate over what is the meaning of Genre Fiction VS Non-Genre Fiction had begun on it’s comments.  Being an editor, I think I can be of help here. So, here is my answer to that question. I hope that some of you find it helpful when submitting your future stories to publishers.When a publication says, “they’re non-genre focused”, they mean that they only want literary fiction and will automatically refuse all stories that a genre driven. A genre driven story is one that falls under the following:

Romance

Fantasy

Sci-fi

Horror

(and the many other such genres out there)

Genre driven stories are focused largely on promotion of their genre and the story focuses totally on that genre. I.e., a romance focuses on a girl’s romantic infatuation; a fantasy will focus on the life of elves wizards and he-men type characters fighting evil in a epic quest; sci-fi focuses on alien life forms traveling from one planet to the next and other such sci-fi type things; horror focuses on scaring the pants off the reader

When a publisher say “they’re non-genre focused” they want to see a slice-of-life story about the day (or week or year) in the life of so-and-so… this is what is known as non-genre or literary fiction. The story focuses on real-life type characters in real life type situations; stories that real like they could be the life of the guy next door or the girl down the road. Non-genre stories tell a story that is not dependant on a fantasy quest or the eloquent narration describing the alien landscape or the steamy sex-scenes. They simply tell a story about life and thus have no genre.

Well, that’s what I see it to mean. Feel free to comment on your own veiws as to the meaning of “non-genre”.

~~EK

A Writer’s Emotions

Writing is a very sacred thing for a writer, it is deeply personal and deeply emotional, because we pour our very heart and soul into what we write, and when someone rejects our words, they in a way reject our very soul as well. While writing we are thrown through every possible emotion, both the good and the bad. Writing can been very relaxing when we do it, because we feel that our words well hold a warm meaning to our readers, but than it become stressful and we are filled with the fear that what we wrote well not be well recieved by our readers.

Writing is prob’ly the most emotional, exhilerating, and stressful act anyone can ever do.

~EK

testing tags

having a problem getting posts to show up… testing to see if tags are working yet

A List of POD Publishers

I found this list of Print On Demand publishers and found it quite interesting as I had only heard of a few of them before. Well, you know me, now I must go check them all out and compare them against each other. I am compelled to do nothing less. I haven’t had a chance to study up on these yet, so I can’t vouch for them, but feel free to check them out for yourselves and see what you think of them.

Here’s the complete list of Publishers covered in the Guide:  

(links added by me, as the article contained no links ~~EK)

For those interested in POD self-publishing, I also recomend that you first read this:

For the sake of referance, I pasted the first paragraph below:

PRINT ON DEMAND

 Print on demand (POD) is the commonly-used term for the digital printing technology that allows a complete book to be printed and bound in a matter of minutes. POD technology makes it easy and cost-effective to produce books one or two at a time or in small lots, rather than in larger print runs of several hundred or several thousand.POD has a number of applications. Commercial and academic publishers use it to print advance reading copies, or when they can’t justify the expense of producing and warehousing a sizeable print run–for instance, to keep backlist books available. Some independent publishers use it as a more economical fulfillment method, trading lower startup costs against smaller per-book profits (due to economies of scale, digitally printed books have a higher unit production cost than books produced in large runs on offset presses). Last but not least, there are the POD-based publishing service providers, which offer a fee-based service that can be described, depending on one’s bias, as either vanity publishing or self-publishing….

To read the rest of the article CLICK HERE.

Except for graphics, and where specifically indicated, all Writer Beware contents copyright © 1998-2007 Victoria Strauss

 

Attack of the POD People! They are not evil.

Are you a self publisher? Maybe you have a manuscript you want published, but you are not sure if self-publishing is right for you? I’m a self publisher myself and I’m always looking for ways to improve, so as you can expect I spend a lot of my “blog reading time” looking for blogs that help writers in general and self-publishers esp. Well, today I came across a new blog I hadn’t found before. My search lead me to this post:

POD is not Vanity is not Self Publish

April 1st, 2007 · No Comments

POD is a technology. It’s a way to print books. It’s quite useful for printing small quantities, particularly if there is intermittent demand. LOTS of publishers who are not vanity houses or scam mills use POD technology. University presses spring to mind, as do very small limited runs of very tightly focused books. POD is not evil.

Vanity presses can use POD technology OR they can use webfeed technology. Vanity presses are essentially printers with some support staff. They’ll help you print up nice editions of whatever you want. You pay for this. It’s called vanity because they don’t acquire the book. Acquire means there is an editorial staff choosing particular books to publish. Vanity houses do not maintain lists, issue catalogs or sell books in bookstores. Vanity presses are not evil

Self publishers can use POD technology or webfeed technology. Self publishers are not vanity presses in the everyday sense of the word. They are “vanity” in the sense that there isn’t an acquisition but the two phrases are used to mean different things in publishing. Lots of people self publish for a lot of reasons. Self publishing is not evil.

POD/scam mills are companies set up to persuade you, the author, that printing your book with their company is the equivalent to having it acquired by a publisher. They charge you money. Unlike a respectable vanity press, they don’t copy edit or produce high quality products. They are out to make money on volume. They prey on author’s insecurities and lack of knowledge. POD/scam mills are the scum of the earth.

Whether a company is the scum of the earth depends on how they run their business, not how they print their books.

There are several POD companies that do not try to persuade you that you have but to print up books with them to be on your way to fame and glory. Lulu and CafePress come to mind. There are others I’m sure.

Miss Snark, the literary agent

[via To Publish a Book]

→ No CommentsTags: Self-Publishing · Articles · Books

to the authour of this post, I say:

bravo!

*insert clapping smilie here*

every one with a manuscript should read this post, if you know someone with a manuscript pass this on to them.

~~EK

Blogs for Writers: Fourth Round of Blog Additions

Here is the next round of blogs I plan to add to the Z-List for Writers:

The Working Writers Coach

Sylvia’s Insight
Writer in the Making
Ink In My Coffee
Grow Your Writing Business
DESiGN YOUR WRiTiNG LiFE
KCWrite4u
Wealth of Words
Content Done Better
Writers in the Sky
Musings from a Writer
JM Writing and Editing Services
Renegade Writer
Mrs. Write Right, Word Therapist (aka Writer-Editor)
Practicing Writing
WritingThoughts
Engaging Pages For Working Writers
A writer’s life and times
Six Figure Writers
Write For Life
Writers and Authors
Muse Writers Peer Awards
Will Write 4 Food
National Association of Writers’ Groups
My Words, My Way
Writing for Reason
Funds for Writers
Beginner’s Guide to Freelance Writing
The Rural Writer
Paperback Writer
Creatively Self-Employed
Ye Old Inkwell
Writers in the Sky
Bleeding Ink
Editing for Everyone
Newbie’s Guide to Publishing
Irene Goodman
academia
Pub Rants
EVIL EDITOR
iUniverse
Budding Authors
NaNoWriMo
World of Words
Miss Snark
Absolute Write
101 Sites
Agent Query

This Day in History: March 13

March 13 is an interesting day; here are a few examples:

On March 13 in 1781, German born English astronomer Sir William Herschel discovered the seventh planetfrom the sun, Uranus.

On March 13 1887, Chester Greenwood of Maine recieved a patent for earmuffs.

On March 13, 1964 Catherine Genovese was killed in the Kew Gardens Community of Queens, NY, while 38 of her friends and neighbors, “not wanting the get involved” watched for nearly 30 minutes as the girl was repeatedly stabbed by her 29 years old attacker. Others, outraged by her friends’ testamony declared March 13 “Good Samaritan Day”, a day to emphasize the importance of unselfish aid to those who need it.

What happened to this girl reminds me of our family. Dozens of people, possibly hundreds, know what has been happening to our family, and yet, no one well help us, no one well do anything to stop it, even when we have begged and pleaded for help from everyone we can think of, still no one well help us and thier reason is always the same: “It’s not my place to get involved.” Most of those would say this claim to be Christians. Now I ask you, in view of this being Good Samaritain’s Day, “What would Jesus do?”

Hand Over the Doggie Biscuits and No One Gets Peed On!

As posted on Xaveir’s Nest: Hand Over the Doggie Biscuits and No One Gets Peed On!

 

New from Copper Cockeral

Doggie Biscuits ***

Doggie Biscuits Black ***

Hand over the doggie buscuits and no one gets peed on!Doggie Biscuits T-Shirt Dog T-Shirt whiteDog t-shirt black Dog T-Shirt

 




*** These designs by J.J. Voldy’s Assistant

Copper Cockeral Introduces it’s New Blog: Xavier’s Nest

The following is an introductory quote from Xavier’s Nest:

Copper Cockeral Cards & Gifts began in November of 2003 when I got this computer I ue today and the free printer that came with it. I had the printer set up in less than an hour and by the end of the day I had gone through 2 reams of paper and card stock, after printing up hundreds of sample designs for cards, stationary, and what not. The printer being also a scanner, ment that I had set out to scanning all of my paintings into the computer as well. One of those paintings I call, The Copper Cockeral. It’s a close up of a rooster’s head, painted an aged copper green-blue. I shrunk it down to a tiny logo and printed it on the back of everything I printed up. A month later I was printing up Christmas cards for paper carriers to hand out o their customers, as task which I continued to do for the next 3 years. And so began Copper Cockeral’s early days as poor quality printed off a free printer. I was happy that I had gotten this business off and running, but I was very displeased with the quality. I went on to test out the quality of four more printers and every type of paper I could find, but still none meet my standerds of perfection.

In the meantime however, I discovered an online printer called Zazzle, who would take my designs and put them on thier products, allowing me to build a website to sell them on. I was intreged and quickly set up my own Zazzle Gallery. In those days Zazle offered 3 products: cards, plain white t-shirts, and posters. Today Zazzle has expanded their line to include buttons, bumper stickers, silk ties, t-shirts in every color imaginable, US Postage stamps, keyrings, posters, framed prints, mugs, hats, totebags, and lots more. As they expand their line, so too does Copper Cockeral.

My income with Zazzle has been hit and miss, mostly due to the fact that they do nothing to promot your line. It’s up to you to do that, marketing and advertising was not something I was interested in, I was more interested in creating the products than promoting them, and back than, the Space Dock 13 Network did not yet exist.

Displeased with the slow sale of Zazzle (and still not marketing on my own) I set out in search of another printer. This time I found CafePress. CafePress, at the time, only had 14 products; today they have 90. Compareing CafePress’s 14 products to Zazzle’s 3, I realized that there was so much room for me to expand the Copper Cockeral line. CafePress not oonly had cards and t-shirts, but they also had clockes, cups, and ceramic tile jewerly boxes. Copper Cockeral expanded.

Today Copper Cockeral embraces both Zazzle and CafePress, offering over 60 designs each on more than 150 products. While most of the line is still designed by me (Wendy C. Allen / EelKat), there are 4 others also creating designs: my three brothers and our mom.

Starting on February 16, 2007, Copper Cockeral now has it’s own web site, still under construction as I type this, but online and taking orders.

This site which you are reading right now, is the blog for Copper Cockeral, named Xavier’s Nest, in memory of the long line of real copper cockerals all named Xavier that have lived on our farm over the years. The original Xavier was Xavier Logan, a character out of my Twighlight Manor series: a wild rock star from planet Flame, most noted for his long firey-red hair and his neon yellow clothes trimmed in pink. In 1989, our farm expanded to include a flock of 25 bantam roosters, which saddly got lost in the mail, and shipped to us 3 days late, with all but one having died. That one went on to become my first Xavier, the first of many. Xavier roosters are always green-eyed Partrige Cochins, a rare mutation, with brilliant green eyes and bright firey red feathers, that oddly resemble Xavier Logan, for whom they are named.

Want to Live Longer? Go Sleep On It.

Today from Answers.com: 

Spotlight: A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine has found that people who take a regular daily nap are less likely to die of a heart attack. Researchers mapped the sleep habits of adults in Greece and found that those who napped most frequently for up to 30 minutes at a time had a 37 percent lower risk of heart disease. In France, the health minister has commissioned a study to determine if napping at work could increase performance and benefit health. And in the US, a study released by Columbia University shows that if you’re middle-aged and sleep five or less hours a night, you may be increasing your risk of developing high blood pressure. So George Costanza had the right idea when he carved himself a little nap area under his desk at work. Sweet dreams.

Quote: “When you can’t figure out what to do, it’s time for a nap.”Mason Cooley

My Blog Ranking Continues to Rise!

WOW… On February 16, 2007, I had 0 inbound links and $0 value on my blog, and my Technorati rank was in the millions, forget the exact number. I adding the Z-List  yesterday, could that have anything to do with my rank change? My ranking is moving up fast!

Your Blog’s Value is $25.56!

Inbound links: 21
Technorati rank: 649805

Pingoat

I have just signed EK’s Star Log up, for membership with Pingoat.

Your Blog’s Value is $13.36!

Inbound links: 8
Technorati rank: 758241

Let’s see how that changes over time, shall we? 

 

Click Here to Advertise on My Blog

Goddess Dolls From The Doll Palace

Here are some more dolls; these were not made by me, they are from the archives at The Doll Palace, from their Greek Goddess Collection. These are the ones I like best from their files.

Dress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll PalaceDress Up Games, Doll Makers and Cartoon Dolls @ The Doll Palace

Click Here to Advertise on My Blog

Paid to Blog???

I have a question… I keep hearing about how people are getting paid to write in their blogs… or how people are makeing money just writing blogs…well, I’d like to do that too, if it’s true that you can do that, I mean I’m writing something every day as it is, I might as well get paid to do it right?so, my question is, has anyone done this? are there any good places you could recommend that actually work… meaning they aren’t just scams, that have you write something and than never pay you… is this whole geting paid to blog a real thing that you really can get money to do, or is it just another scam? Anyone know?  

I’m new to the blogging world though… I’ve been online since 1997, and only just FINALLY started blogging! LOL! I’ve got 4 on Blogger, 3 on MySpace, one that I lost the link to and can’t remember the name of the host, and one one WordPress… so that’s 9 right now, but no dought there well be more…I try to keep each on on it’s own topicAs soon as I started though, everyone starts asking me “How much are you getting paid to blog?” and I’m like wth? They don’t blog, but they said they heard people get paid lots to do it, and well, that was news to me, so I figured, well, if I can get paid to do it, than why am I doing it for free right? so, now I’m researching the whole idea of getting paid to blogg… but as far as I can tell so far, it’s just alot of hype… I’ve found a ton of places that “pay to blog”, but than when you read the fine print, they only pay likr .002c per thousand people who read your post!!!!!! wow! that’s less than half a cent for every thousand uniquie page hits! highway robbery that’s what it is!than I found these otherplaces, that you have to pay like $25 a month, to join, and than they pay you to write articles for THIER blog, and than they only pay you if that post gets enough hits… YIKES! what a scam!

 I searched on Google and found a couple of sites that say they pay $4-$25 per post, if you sing your blog up with them, and write reviews for other web sites and products… but they also say that your blog has to be well established and get regular visitors before they well aprove it… I just signed up (cause they said it was free, so I figure what the heck), but my blog has only been around a short while, and I think it’s only had like a hundred visitors since it started,, so I don’t know if they well approve it or not… I’ll just wait and see what happens next.…but, my search continues, I’ve found a few folks who are getting paid to blog, not getting rich by any means, but they are getting an income comming in here and there, and that gives me hope, so, I am studying them and their blogs to find out how they are doing it and how I can do the same thing they are doing, only do it better . If I find out anything that really truly works I’ll post it here and let you guys all know so’s you can do it too.~~EK

What is your writing’s biggest flaw?

This is sort of a self-searching exercise for all you fellow writers out there. The topic of which is the question: What is your writings biggest flaw?

The question is inspired by the fact, that all to often, we as writers look at our work as absolutely perfect. You know you do. Admit it. You do it, I do it, we all do it. It a flaw that all writers have and none can escape. We think that everything we write is perfect. We think that everyone well love it. Our kind, often goes so far as to think that it is so perfect that we don’t need to edit it past the first draft. We write the first draft and say: “Ah huh! This is perfect!”

We are a strange breed, driven to write, yet compleded to igrore the act of editing what we write. We well sit at the computer for hours, days, weeks, even month, typing out our heart and soul. Than without editing it we send it off, and quickly get a rejection slip. We become degected, paranoid, hurt, angery. What went wrong here? Well, we as writers, can get so blinded by how great we think our story is, that we forget to look for any flaws in it. I think this is prob’ly the most common mistake made by ever single writer to ever exist.

So, my exercise today is, to take something you have written, recently or in the far past, a one page poem or a three hundred page novel, fiction or non-fiction. It doesn’t matter what it is or when you wrote it, just take it and look at it. Really look at it. Look at it as though you were the toughest editor the world has ever known. Look for flaws in it. Take a red pen and cross out everything that shouldn’t be there: everything, from extra adjectives and adverbs, to the compound sentence that should have been two separate sentences, the prepositions that aren’t really needed… anything. Kill the passive voice. Correct spelling errors. Get rid of characters that do not add to the story. Cross out the don’ts and replace them with do nots instead. Cut scenes that are not one hundred percent nessacery. When you are done, your script will be bleeding red ink, but don’t do not worry about that. Take a careful look at the things you have crossed out. Why did you cross them out? How could you have written them better? Did you notice that you are crossing out the same mistake again and again? Chances are, you well find two or three mistakes that have been repeated throughout your writing. Take note of these. They are the areas on which you well need to work the hardest to correct.

I could continue, by telling you how to correct each flaw, but I well not, because that is not the point pf this article. The point of this article is to find the flaws, not correct them. You can correct them later, but you can’t correct them if yo have not looked for them. You want to improve your writing skills, but you can not improve something that is perfect can you? So the first thing you must do, is to realize that your writing is not perfect, no ones is. All writing has its good points. All writing has its bad points. Every writer has talent. Every writer has flaws. Your goal here is to look for the bad, and make it good. Once you can see the flaws, than you can correct them. In the end, your writing well be all the better for it. Besides, the better your writing is, the better your pay well be too. 😉

Click Here to Advertise on My Blog

More Home Business Plotting: Blogging For Pay

Still searching Google, still finding great info. Once again though I have found some articles that I want to save over here, so that I can refer to them as I continue to build ans expand this blog. Here they are if you want to read them, hey, maybe they well help you make some money with your blog too!
How to Make Money From Your Blog
May 3rd, 2006 by Steve Pavlina
How to Build a High-Traffic Web Site (or Blog)
January 24th, 2006 by Steve Pavlina
10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job
July 21st, 2006 by Steve Pavlina
How to make money from your blog: 5 tips

Promgirl

And This Blog

This is a test…

Okay, I’m editing again, this is a test post, to see what the layout well look like. Just ignore it. Real posts well be coming soon.

~~EK

https://eelkat.wordpress.com/


Copper Cockeral Cards & Gifts

Add to Technorati Favorites

Best Blogs Blog Directory

Quick Blog Directory

Add to Technorati Favorites

pingoat_5.gif


Blog Carnival Index - browse the archives

Insane Blog Directory

Link With Us - Web Directory

Blog Directory

Link With Us - Web Directory

Blogdup Blog Directory

Listed on SuperBlog Directory

Romow Web Directory

Link With Us - Web Directory

Visit The Doll Palace [Where Cartoon Dolls Live]

Colorful Images

PosterCheckOut.com

Elf Cosmetics

Khepra Skin Care

Dutch Gardens, Inc.


Copper Cockeral Cards & Gifts

bruising your ego one bluf at a time

Powered by Answers.com:
free online dictionary and more

What Is Success?

What is success?

How do you describe the word success?

What would it take for you to feel successful?

I thought it would be interesting to see what everyone thinks on this.

Of course it would help get the discusion moving if I posted my feelings on it, so here I go…

I’ve known several people who thought that they weren’t successful until they earned so much money a year, owned a certain make car (Jaguar or BMW for instance), owned a vacation home, or a big boat. I always looked at these guys and asked them why they thought that money and items were success and they really didn’t have an answer. That always bothered me. It made me sad and I felt like they were missing out on the joys of real success.

I live on a beach, where lots of millionaires vacation each year, and I see these so called successful people every day. They have a lot of money coming in, they have the second house on the beach, they have the boat, they have the car, and they look around and say they still want more, but than they also have the mortages, the bank loans, the lease, and the sky rocketing property taxes. They have the “things” but they also have the debt and stress that comes with them. They tell people that at last they are successful, but than they are sad and depressed and end up with counseling bills on top of everything else, cause they need counseling to find out, why if they are so “successful” why than are they not also happy?

These same summer folks often look at me and my family…5 people and 200+ pets, living in a cabin just under 700 squ feet, on an income of less than $20,000 a year, and with a car that gets towed home several times a year cause it’s so old and beat up. They often ask us, how we can live like this and be happy. Why aren’t we stressed out like they are? Why aren’t we striving to be “successful” like them?

My answer is always the same. What is success? Is it money? Is it big houses and fancy cars? No. It is a family that loves you. It is haveing a job that alows ou to stay home with your family, even if it doesn’t make you rich. It is taking care of animals that were abandoned by their previose owners and knowing that they are now happy and safe. It is being able to walk to the beach each day and see the sunrise or the sunset, even if our house is the smallest one in town. It’s going to the movies with our children and talking about why we liked it on the drive home. It’s the weekly pizza nights, when we sit around talking and laughing in a tiny local pizza parlor, where we are so regular that they save our seats and know what to order without our seeing the menu.

No, success can not be counted in dollars and cents; success is counted in hours and minutes, laughter and tears…success in when you have a family that loves you, that you enjoy spending time with, and no amount of money can ever buy that.

Spring…

Today it is Spring, well Spring came a while ago, but we didn’t feel it or see it before today.

How do I know it is Spring? Easy. Let me count the ways for you:

There were 4 robins on the lawn today.

The lilac bushes have tiny buds on them and thier boughs are filled with Chickadees and Titmouse.

A pair of Downey Woodpeckers and several Nuthatches are bounceing up and down the trees.

Most of the ice in the brook is gone.

Snowdrops, crocuses, and Daffolis are peeking up through the dry brown leaves.

The warm breeze of salt air is coming in off the ocean, filling the air with the sweet sent of seaweed.

The bantams are starting to lose their warm winter down, and the Silver Penciled and Silver Birchin breeds are changeing from white to grey.

The dirt are the rich scent of freshness just waiting to be tilled.

Mayflies are swiming in the brook, and waterskippers dance their dainty ballets across the top.

…there is a rainbow trout hiding under the bridge…

?????

in the more than 300 year history our family has had with this brook, never before has a fish been in it. Where he came from and how he got there I do not know. Why he is staying or how long he plans to stay, I know not either. But he is welcomed to stay for as long as the water is running. One can never have too many animals in their yard, what with the hundreds here all ready, what’s one more?

And so I go on, happy to rejoice at Spring’s arrival.

And so it goes today in the life of EelKat.

Writing Exercise #2

How do you feel right now, this very minute? Do you know? If someone asked you that right now, what would you say to them?

Would you say something like…”Oh I’m fine”…”I’m doing great!”…or…”I’m so depressed”…etc?

Okay, so the person who asked is probly satisfied with an answer like that, but will your readers accept that kind of an answer from your stories main character? I think not. They want to know everything they can about their hero, they want to know what he knows, feel what he feels, cry when he cries, laugh when he laughs, they want to be a part of the story, they want to know what it feels like to be this person. To accomplish that you will need alot more than a simple…”I’m feeling fine”.

Pick a character, one of your own, a fan fic one, or even you, this need not be fiction, non-fiction is fine. Take your character, and describe how he/she is feeling right now, right this very instant.

Think about what is going through his mind right now.
Why does he feel this emotion?
What has happened to cause it?
How does this emotion feel mentally?
How does it feel physically?
Does it effect the way he sees, feels, and hears things in the room around him?
Do the colors in the room make him feel happier or depressed?
What time of day is it? What time of year? How do these factors affect his mood?

See if you can fill up more than one page, doing nothing but describing this emtional state of mind in which your character now finds himself in.

Writing Exercise #2

How do you feel right now, this very minute? Do you know? If someone asked you that right now, what would you say to them?Would you say something like…”Oh I’m fine”…”I’m doing great!”…or…”I’m so depressed”…etc?

Okay, so the person who asked is probly satisfied with an answer like that, but will your readers accept that kind of an answer from your stories main character? I think not. They want to know everything they can about their hero, they want to know what he knows, feel what he feels, cry when he cries, laugh when he laughs, they want to be a part of the story, they want to know what it feels like to be this person. To accomplish that you will need alot more than a simple…”I’m feeling fine”.

Pick a character, one of your own, a fan fic one, or even you, this need not be fiction, non-fiction is fine. Take your character, and describe how he/she is feeling right now, right this very instant.

Think about what is going through his mind right now.
Why does he feel this emotion?
What has happened to cause it?
How does this emotion feel mentally?
How does it feel physically?
Does it effect the way he sees, feels, and hears things in the room around him?
Do the colors in the room make him feel happier or depressed?
What time of day is it? What time of year? How do these factors affect his mood?

See if you can fill up more than one page, doing nothing but describing this emtional state of mind in which your character now finds himself in.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-
Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*

Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Writing Exercise #2

How do you feel right now, this very minute? Do you know? If someone asked you that right now, what would you say to them?Would you say something like…”Oh I’m fine”…”I’m doing great!”…or…”I’m so depressed”…etc?

Okay, so the person who asked is probly satisfied with an answer like that, but will your readers accept that kind of an answer from your stories main character? I think not. They want to know everything they can about their hero, they want to know what he knows, feel what he feels, cry when he cries, laugh when he laughs, they want to be a part of the story, they want to know what it feels like to be this person. To accomplish that you will need alot more than a simple…”I’m feeling fine”.

Pick a character, one of your own, a fan fic one, or even you, this need not be fiction, non-fiction is fine. Take your character, and describe how he/she is feeling right now, right this very instant.

Think about what is going through his mind right now.
Why does he feel this emotion?
What has happened to cause it?
How does this emotion feel mentally?
How does it feel physically?
Does it effect the way he sees, feels, and hears things in the room around him?
Do the colors in the room make him feel happier or depressed?
What time of day is it? What time of year? How do these factors affect his mood?

See if you can fill up more than one page, doing nothing but describing this emtional state of mind in which your character now finds himself in.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-
Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*

Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Writing Exercise #2

black birdfall leaves centerblack bird

How do you feel right now, this very minute? Do you know? If someone asked you that right now, what would you say to them?Would you say something like…”Oh I’m fine”…”I’m doing great!”…or…”I’m so depressed”…etc?

Okay, so the person who asked is probly satisfied with an answer like that, but will your readers accept that kind of an answer from your stories main character? I think not. They want to know everything they can about their hero, they want to know what he knows, feel what he feels, cry when he cries, laugh when he laughs, they want to be a part of the story, they want to know what it feels like to be this person. To accomplish that you will need alot more than a simple…”I’m feeling fine”.

Pick a character, one of your own, a fan fic one, or even you, this need not be fiction, non-fiction is fine. Take your character, and describe how he/she is feeling right now, right this very instant.

Think about what is going through his mind right now.
Why does he feel this emotion?
What has happened to cause it?
How does this emotion feel mentally?
How does it feel physically?
Does it effect the way he sees, feels, and hears things in the room around him?
Do the colors in the room make him feel happier or depressed?
What time of day is it? What time of year? How do these factors affect his mood?

See if you can fill up more than one page, doing nothing but describing this emtional state of mind in which your character now finds himself in.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-
Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*

black birdfall leaves centerblack bird

Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

>Writing Exercise #2

>
black birdfall leaves centerblack bird

How do you feel right now, this very minute? Do you know? If someone asked you that right now, what would you say to them?Would you say something like…”Oh I’m fine”…”I’m doing great!”…or…”I’m so depressed”…etc?

Okay, so the person who asked is probly satisfied with an answer like that, but will your readers accept that kind of an answer from your stories main character? I think not. They want to know everything they can about their hero, they want to know what he knows, feel what he feels, cry when he cries, laugh when he laughs, they want to be a part of the story, they want to know what it feels like to be this person. To accomplish that you will need alot more than a simple…”I’m feeling fine”.

Pick a character, one of your own, a fan fic one, or even you, this need not be fiction, non-fiction is fine. Take your character, and describe how he/she is feeling right now, right this very instant.

Think about what is going through his mind right now.
Why does he feel this emotion?
What has happened to cause it?
How does this emotion feel mentally?
How does it feel physically?
Does it effect the way he sees, feels, and hears things in the room around him?
Do the colors in the room make him feel happier or depressed?
What time of day is it? What time of year? How do these factors affect his mood?

See if you can fill up more than one page, doing nothing but describing this emtional state of mind in which your character now finds himself in.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-
Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*

black birdfall leaves centerblack bird

Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape