Written Like A Pro

Are writing lessons for everyone? No, but if you’re asking yourself if you should take writing lessons, the answer is probably yes. Writing courses are hard work, and I won’t kid you about that, but they are so rewarding.

Even assuming you have a good background in English, good sentence structure, and are talented beyond your wildest dreams, you still need the inside dope on how to sell what you write. Writing classes will teach you how to target a market, research it, write for a specific magazine, establish a rapport with editors, and have the self-confidence to properly present yourself.

Shortcuts are only for people with natural-born talent or geniuses. If you are neither of these, roll up your shirtsleeves and get ready to labor with the rest of us. Think how precious education is, and be thankful that you can get it if you try hard enough. Anything worth having is worth sacrificing for.

You may be asking, “Where do I begin?” Take a moment to do a reality check and decide what your lowest point in writing is. Do you need a punctuation review course? Do you need a brush-up course on proper sentence structure? Do you need to learn “Show, don’t tell”? Establish your lowest point of writing knowledge and start there. If you are rusty on the basics, a refresher course will quickly restore your balance and set the foundation for intermediate and advanced classes.

Most writers amble along, taking the courses they like, and giving little heed to the rest of the learning process. But if you want to enjoy your hobby to the utmost, or turn it into a successful career, you must take it more seriously than that. The serious writer must wind his way through the maze of writing rules and proper procedures to develop their writing skills. This can be done easily if you have a caring mentor to lead you. He/she will help you avoid the landmines that caught them in their early years. They will critique your work, and guide you to your next level of learning.

If you’re a serious writer and you want to sell, most people can begin selling articles in their first year. (Even if you want to write stories, writing articles is the place to begin. It will give you a great foundation that will enable you to earn a few bucks while you learn the story writing process, which takes a bit longer.) Almost everyone can sell articles by their second year. Learning to be a writer is a fairly speedy process, if you have the courage to stick with it. Most people who have a desire to write can learn to write well.

Note: More than half the writers who attend school drop out because they don’t set good study habits. Lay aside 60-90 minutes a week for homework, and you’ll do fine. Some people do this by using 15 minutes of their lunch hour daily, or staying up 15 minutes later at night. However you do it doesn’t matter, but do it.

You are worth the investment. Step out and do something you really want. You can write. Almost anyone can, if they have some guidance. If you stick with it, you WILL learn.

If you would like an honest evaluation of your writing skills, send a 1,000 word story OR a 200 word article to me at deborahowen@cwinst.com. I will analyze the stories for imagery, characterization, dialog, structure, and plot. Articles will be judged on structure, strength, snappy verbs, grouping thoughts, verbiage, and presentation. I’ll be more than happy to help you.

[autoarticle title='Learning the Rules of Writing' author='Deborah Owen is the CEO & Founder of a new writing school - Creative Writing Institute. The non-profit school uses mentors to escort each student to their highest potential. Registration opens with a great sale - eight-week courses for only $250. No added fees. School opens Oct. 5. http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com' link='http://goarticles.com/article/Learning-the-Rules-of-Writing/1128020/' ]

Yes, writing has rules, just like everything else. One of the greatest things about writing is that most people can become good, selling writers in only two years. One of the biggest problems in writing is that most people produce in their spare time and don’t try to find their potential.

Many wannabe writers hide behind the excuse that they didn’t learn punctuation and English basics well enough in their formative years. If that is your situation, most good schools have brush-up courses for that purpose.

Some students will say they are to old to learn new things, but to that I say, “Bah. Humbug.” I have no short-term memory, yet I keep managing to learn as long as I apply myself daily, and I’m closing in on 70 years of age. If I can do it, you most certainly can, too.

Writing is a great hobby. It will give you a chance to spread your wings. Some people will be better at it than others, but that’s okay. Give yourself permission to not be at the head of the class. My guess is you won’t be at the rear, either.

If you want to learn Short Story writing, a course will teach you how to set a theme, develop a plot, target your audience, and choose your point of view. You will learn how to cast your characters, create good dialog, and use word imagery for settings. Next, you must learn to build the conflict, cut your verbiage, and perhaps most important of all, learn “Show, Don’t Tell”. There’s a lot to short story writing and it’s fun.

To learn writing for children (which is not any easier than writing for adults, trust me), you will begin by outlining your story, fleshing out your characters, studying market techniques, building your point of view, Show, Don’t Tell, creating good dialog, editing your drafts, polishing your final draft, and creating queries and cover letters.

If you’re interested in learning Fantasy writing, you will learn histories of the genre, and subgenres. You will learn how to find inspiration, create fantasy characters, create a fantasy world, and create the elements necessary to transport your readers into a believable atmosphere. You will learn how to outline, create a spell that will enchant your readers, and mix magic potions. You’ll learn the difference between fantasy writing, horror writing and sci-fi writing.

Writing will teach you to have a ‘tougher skin’ so that more advanced students can offer comments on your work. You will learn to profit by it instead of getting hurt and sulking into a corner. As a writer, you must have this attitude. It is one of the few absolutes. Rejection is a large part of writing, and you should know that going in.

I would leave you with one last piece of advice. I thought I was the exception to the rule, and that I could skip ahead to advanced learning because I wanted it bad enough and I had an excellent foundation in English. I was so wrong. I skipped the beginning elements and when I got deeper into advanced writing, I had to take a brush-up course to learn what I had missed. My pride was crushed.

After I had taken a few courses, I realized how they meshed together to create a larger picture, and I learned that skipping any part of the package only caused me grief in the long run. Alas, I saved neither time nor money.

Please – start at the beginning and work your way through the courses patiently. Learn each one well. Study regularly, listen to your mentors, and do extra homework that is above and beyond the call of duty. In this way, you will ensure a writing career that has no holes in its foundation, and you will be fulfilled.
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[autoarticle title='Wealth In Writing' author='Author: Donald Whitehead

Donald is owner of <a
href="http://www.writingmyfirste-book.com">Writing My First E-Book
Why not start writing your first e-book today!

Promote your,website, products, and or e-book with <a
href="http://www.writingarticlespro.com">Your Articles Learn to
write your own articles.' link='http://goarticles.com/article/Wealth-In-Writing/819293/' ]

Did you know that the biggest selling product on the internet happens
to be information products and has been since almost the beginning of
the internets debut. A computer happens to be a very, very powerful tool and most people probably aren’t even aware of this fact. A computer is a word processor capable of writing any and everything that you can think of to write about, and a desktop publishing system that can make you rich beyond your wildest dreams and famous too. You can literally get a flood of cash pouring into your home office from your writing. Your computer can be turned onto autopilot flying high off the ground into cyberspace, and The computer desktop publishing system can make it all possible.

Truth is many writers today are now making big money writing with no
more experience than you have right now. All you have to do is take hot selling articles and write a chapter at a time and turn them into short e-books of 20, 50 or a 100 pages. People do it everyday and these e-books sell like crazy on the world wide web. Remember that the
hottest selling products on the internet is information, now, today.
People around the world want to know “how to do things” and they buy
millions of “How To Do It Books.” Actually one person can do what once took typesetters, writers, proof readers, printers, engravers, book
binders and sales people to do and do it in less than half of the time.

The biggest thing is to just “GET STARTED.” That’s right, just do it.
You will make mistakes along the way, but that’s part of learning. Do
the research, ask writers questions to find out what they did to become successful. read constantly and study how other writers write. Take from what you learn and write and hone your writing skills. Most
importantly don’t give up. Remember people do this everyday and with
great success. You may think that there is a secret and you are right.
The secret is to write, write and write, that’s it.

It really doesn’t matter what you write about just as long as it is
something of value, and by that I mean that the information being
provided MUST BE WORTHY in that it serves a means to the reader, or
solves a problem, or provides an avenue towards a solution. The
information must offer the reader some type of value and the more value that what you have written holds the better chance of your e-book or any book have of getting world wide notoriety possibly beyond your own wildest imagination. Do some research and see what’s a hot topic, research the topic, then just go to work writing the first chapter then the second chapter and so on until you have 12 or 15 chapters, put it all together as an e-book and start promoting it with press releases etc.

You can write poetry, stories, autobiographies, how to, business information or information products there is a huge world wide market
on the internet. Millions of dollars are spent for books and almost
every one buys books to learn how to live in todays complicated world
among other things. There are many ways to come up with book ideas.
Talking with friends is one way, or take college courses, read books,subscribe to newsletters, learn about book writing, publishing
from research on the web, there is literally no end to the possibilities. You can even go to the public domains and find old out
dated material and refurbish it and put a spin on it. People do it all
the time. The material is free and it won’t cost you anything in most
cases.

One last word of encouragement is, that the more of yourself that you
put in your writing the more you will reap. Sow a good seed and the
harvest that you will reap will be enormous. Plant deep, meaning to
advertise it in every possible way and place.
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