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How to write a book

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Profiles of the 16 Myers Briggs Personality Types | PersonalityDesk. Links for Aspiring Writers. The Top 10 Relationship Words That Aren't Translatable Into English | Marriage 3.0. Here are my top ten words, compiled from online collections, to describe love, desire and relationships that have no real English translation, but that capture subtle realities that even we English speakers have felt once or twice. As I came across these words I’d have the occasional epiphany: “Oh yeah! That’s what I was feeling...” Mamihlapinatapei (Yagan, an indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego): The wordless yet meaningful look shared by two people who desire to initiate something, but are both reluctant to start. Oh yes, this is an exquisite word, compressing a thrilling and scary relationship moment. It’s that delicious, cusp-y moment of imminent seduction. Yuanfen (Chinese): A relationship by fate or destiny.

From what I glean, in common usage yuanfen means the "binding force" that links two people together in any relationship. But interestingly, “fate” isn’t the same thing as “destiny.” Retrouvailles (French): The happiness of meeting again after a long time. Ten Steps for Boosting Your Creativity. 33 Ways To Stay Creative. How to write a book - Now Novel. Creative Uses of Magic in Your Fantasy Story. Creative Uses of Magic in Your Fantasy Story by Philip Martin Return to Speculative Fiction · Print/Mobile-Friendly Version How can you create an interesting form of magic for your fantasy story?

Will magic, in your fiction, be like a tool? A technique? Or will you have several forms, as Tolkien did in The Lord of the Rings, where the dark forces use magic like a bulldozer to gain power, while the elves have a wonderful nature that is magic simply because everything they do is "more effortless, more quick, more complete" than the abilities of those around them? In fantasy fiction, magic is the central nervous system. Magic doesn't need to be plausible, but it has to work well. 1. Magic needs to work according to firm rules. Everything should be set in place long in advance. 2. For dramatic impact, as important as the powers of magic are its limitations. In the Harry Potter books, Harry's nemesis, Lord Voldemort, has great powers, but even so, those powers are limited. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 30 Days of WorldBuilding. By popular demand, you can now download the Magical WorldBuilder Guide in three easy-to-carry (non-DRM) formats: PDF for printing out at home or reading on a computerePub for use with many fine ereader devicesMOBI for use with Kindles and MobiPocket software.As of 2007, The world-builder exercises are licensed under a Creative Commons license to help you in deciding whether you can translate (yes, with credit back), distribute to your writing group (yes, with credit), sell (not without permission), reprint (yes, for non-commercial purposes), or mirror (yes, with credit back) this useful guide!

In October, 2004, I posted 30 days of world-building exercises to the NaNoWriMo discussion forums. These are short, 15-minute exercises that can help you make crucial decisions about your world, and what you want your story to say about it. These exercises have been edited for general use and re-posted here. So, give yourself 7 and a half hours this month-- 15 minutes a day-- to build a world. Internet Resources - Writers Resources - Writing Links & Writers Links for Writers - Fiction Writing. ThePhobia List - StumbleUpon. Prettiest Words: All of Them. 23 Pages. Could Always Use More, Though - StumbleUpon. Victorian Era Names, A Writer's Guide.

Circa 1840's-1890's Being a compilation drawn from old census and vital statistic records. A large part of creating a good set of characters in fiction writing is giving your imaginary populace good names. The right name resonates on the tongue and lingers in the mind, as just the right "fit" for who that heroic - or despicable - person was. Who can forget "Captain Ahab" and his manic pursuit of the Great White Whale, or the plain-spoken, earthy spirit of "Tom Sawyer," or the stern lyricism of "Sherlock Holmes? " The same holds true for writing stories set in the 1800's. It is a simple fact that names change in use and popularity, over time, and the names we give our kids today are probably not what our great-grandmothers used. Nor was it unusual for parents to look closer to home, borrowing from close friends or people they admired.

Special thanks to Christine/Sevenstars, for her comments and assistance with this collection. Compiled by G. [places for writers] The Analysis of mind, by Bertrand Russell. Periodic Table of Storytelling. Fantasy Name Generator. By Samuel Stoddard - Version 1.5 One of the perks of creating fantasy stories -- whether by writing a story or game or by role-playing -- is you get to make up the names. Some people relish the task while others are frustrated by it. Some like it but can't seem to create names that are diverse enough. Fantasy Name Generator is a tool that can help you. In addition, this tool can be fairly amusing to use even if you don't have any name creating to do. You can use the fantasy name generator below.

Character Chart for Fiction Writers - EpiGuide.com. If you're a fiction writer -- whether you're working on a novel, short story, screenplay, television series, play, web series, webserial, or blog-based fiction -- your characters should come alive for your reader or audience. The highly detailed chart below will help writers develop fictional characters who are believable, captivating, and unique. Print this page to complete the form for each main character you create. IMPORTANT: Note that all fields are optional and should be used simply as a guide; character charts should inspire you to think about your character in new ways, rather than constrain your writing.

Fill in only as much info as you choose. Have fun getting to know your character! If this character chart is helpful, please let us know! Looking for more character questionnaires / charts? Cure writer's block with writing prompts - writing tips character name generator. Mibba.com - Creative writing community. Wattpad - The Best Place to Discover and Share Stories. Figment: Write yourself in. Misktakes In Writing. Here's the slightly revised and updated text of an article I wrote a while back. It seems to have done a lot of folks a lot of good as they have set out to learn the craft of writing fiction. Note: Except for the links to my Home page and the list of my books, all of the links and jumps in this article stay inside the document. You can save it to disk, load it to your Web reader off-line, and jump from item to item without accidently popping off into some other file in Katmandu. by Roger MacBride Allen You can read straight through or jump to: Roger MacBride Allen's Home Page A list of Roger MacBride Allen's books Introduction Errors of Style: Passive Voice Inappropriate Use of Summary Narration Point of View errors Poor Choice of Tense and Person Time Control Errors Unnamed Characters Errors of Substance: The Weird Opener & The Unintergrated Opener Retread of the Same Old Same Old Confusing the Author's Motives with the Character's Failure to Deal with Consequences Development Errors Bad Planning 1. 2.

Tapastic: Read and Discover Comics Online. Stories_final. Writing. Write & Get Paid. Get Paid $100 Do you want to earn money online? Listverse was built on the efforts of readers just like you. Readers who didn’t have any experience as writers but decided to put a list together and send it in. So here is the deal: We will pay you $100 for your efforts. It works like this: You write your list (10 items per list minimum), you send it in, we reply and say “Great—we’ll publish it” and send you $100 by PayPal (don’t have an account? Either way you win—your list will be read by us and reviewed, and if it’s amazing it will appear on the front page of Listverse to be read by millions of people a month!

We can not accept lists from writers who do not have a PayPal account; this is non-negotiable. The Rules The rules are really pretty simple. Oh—and there’s one more thing: If you have a blog, a Twitter account, or a book you want to promote, mention it in the submissions form and we will stick it at the bottom of your list. Pictures and Video Ready to start? The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do. Writing is a muscle. Smaller than a hamstring and slightly bigger than a bicep, and it needs to be exercised to get stronger. Think of your words as reps, your paragraphs as sets, your pages as daily workouts. Think of your laptop as a machine like the one at the gym where you open and close your inner thighs in front of everyone, exposing both your insecurities and your genitals.

Because that is what writing is all about. Procrastination is an alluring siren taunting you to google the country where Balki from Perfect Strangers was from, and to arrange sticky notes on your dog in the shape of hilarious dog shorts. A wicked temptress beckoning you to watch your children, and take showers. Well, it’s time to look procrastination in the eye and tell that seafaring wench, “Sorry not today, today I write.” The blank white page. Mark Twain once said, “Show, don’t tell.” Finding a really good muse these days isn’t easy, so plan on going through quite a few before landing on a winner.

117 Most beautiful words in the English language. Legal Writing Skills - Seven Ways To Improve Your Legal Writing Skills. The written word is one of the most important tools of the legal profession. Words are used to advocate, inform, persuade and instruct. Although mastering legal writing skills takes time and practice, superior writing skills are essential to success. Polish your legal writing skills through the simple tips below. 1. Remember Your Audience Every word you write should be tailored to the needs of the reader. 2. Organization is the key to successful legal writing. 3. Legalese - specialized legal phrases and jargon - can make your writing abstract, stilted and archaic. 4.

Every word you write should contribute to your message. Consider the following sentence: “Due to the fact that the defendant has not attempted to pay back the money owed to our client in the amount of $3,000 it has become absolutely essential that we take appropriate legal action in order to obtain payment of the aforesaid amount.” 5. Action words make your legal prose more powerful, dynamic and vivid. 6. 7. Self Publishing a Book. Ten Practical Tips for Writing in English | Freelancer Magazine.

Online opportunities are not created equal. Although access to the Internet is open to everyone, and the cost of publishing your thoughts are minimal, language gives a huge advantage to those who have learned English as their first language. They can reach the whole world by writing in their own language. For the rest of us, it requires a bit more work. I’m from Finland, a country of 5,2 million inhabitants at the northern end of Europe, right between Sweden and Russia, so when I started blogging, my decision was easy: if I wanted to reach more than a handful of people, I had to go with English.

If you speak French, Spanish or Chinese, there is a bit more incentive for writing in your own language, but even then, the only way to reach the whole population of our planet is to write in English. It’s not always easy, so that’s why today I am sharing with you the ten most useful and practical tips for writing in a foreign language that I have learnt during my blogging career. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Stephen King's Top 20 Rules for Writers. Image by the USO, via Flickr Commons In one of my favorite Stephen King interviews, for The Atlantic, he talks at length about the vital importance of a good opening line.

“There are all sorts of theories,” he says, “it’s a tricky thing.” “But there’s one thing” he’s sure about: “An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. We’ve talked so much about the reader, but you can’t forget that the opening line is important to the writer, too. This is excellent advice. Revision in the second draft, “one of them, anyway,” may “necessitate some big changes” says King in his 2000 memoir slash writing guide On Writing. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

See a fuller exposition of King’s writing wisdom at Barnes & Noble’s blog. Related Content: Stephen King Creates a List of 96 Books for Aspiring Writers to Read Stephen King Writes A Letter to His 16-Year-Old Self: “Stay Away from Recreational Drugs” How to Self Publish a Book: 23 Steps (with Pictures. Edit Article Writing, Proofing, Designing, and CopywritingSelf-Publishing as an E-BookSelf-Publishing by Print on DemandSelf Publishing by Vanity Press/Subsidy Publishing Edited by Master Tyler, Flickety, Rob S, Soda Addict and 66 others Self publishing a book is popular for many reasons.

Securing a traditional publishing contract may not work for you — they're hard to get, and you give up a lot of rights when you finally do get one. Self-publishing should allow you to retain more rights over the final product, offer the product at a substantially lower cost, and give you an outlet to do traditional marketing and advertising yourself. No matter what your reason, self publishing is a great way to make your book available to anybody interested. Read on for a discussion of the different ways that you can self-publish a book. Ad Steps Part 1 of 4: Writing, Proofing, Designing, and Copywriting 1Know that writing a book takes lots of hard work and time. 10Find a printer.

Tips Warnings. How to Write a Book in 60 Days or Less. Commitment Whether you choose 60 days, 30 days or 6 months as your goal, all that matters is that you commit to it and implement a schedule that will get you there. Choose a realistic time frame that you can stick to. A little bit every day is better than trying to do too much and then giving up. How to choose your time goal? Start by determining: How many hours per day can you devote to writing? How many pages can you write per hour? Example: Let’s say you commit to 2 hours per day and you’re able to write 3 pages per hour.

My Experience: My new book, Secrets to a Healthy Life, is only 60 pages. Process for Novel Writing For writing a novel, I can recommend Randy Ingermanson’s free online manual titled: “Writing a Novel Using The Snowflake Method.” Snowflake Method for Writing a Novel: (summary from Randy has other products that he sells, usually for very good prices relative to the value he is offering. I love this program! Writing Tools.