Tikatok - Kids Activities: Publish a Children's Book with Tikatok Links for Writers Why have a separate section for “word processing software”? Why not just put it all under “writing software”? Word processing software is writing software by definition, of couse, and much of the software in the “writing software” section above might equally be categorised as word processors. Some users may use one of those applications right up to and including printing; many will use one of the dedicated writing applications in conjunction with a word processor, hammering out the first draft in one of the programs above and then exporting it to a word processor for final revisions and formatting. Nisus Writer (Pro) Nisus Writer has a great reputation that goes back long before OS X; I’ve heard many reports that the old version of Nisus on OS 9 was the best word processor ever. Mellel If you ignore the obviously omnipresent Word and Pages, I imagine that Nisus and Mellel are the two most popular word processors on the Mac. Bean Mariner Write
Let’s Talk! That is, let’s talk about writing dialogue. It’s the single best way to show readers what’s going on (and, as Anne Lamott says, it’s a complete change of pace from all that writing). It’s also the single most difficult thing to get right. Many, many authors have trouble writing words for their characters to say that, you know, feel real. Like you can imagine people actually saying those things. With dialogue, it’s the tiniest details that make the difference. So if you agonize when you’re writing dialogue, here are some suggestions that might help. • I’ve been told that a good way to learn to write dialogue is to study scriptwriting or playwriting. • To test your dialogue, hold a reading of your manuscript: have friends over, assign them parts, and then read the dialogue out loud as if it were a script. • And let’s talk about some of those problems. • We don’t need to pick up a conversation from the “Hey, how are you?” • Watch for repeated use of sentences beginning with “well” or “so.”
English 50 Exercises for Story Writers English 50 – Intro to Creative Writing: Exercises for Story Writers Basic Theory: What is a short story? As soon as someone delivers a definition, some good writer will write a story that proves the theory wrong. About the only thing we can say for sure is that short stories are short and that they are written in what we call prose. Short stories have a narrator; that is, someone tells the story; have at least one character in them; have some action occur (or perhaps fails to occur); take place somewhere; that is, there is a setting for the action; and someone either learns something or fails to learn something (theme).With these five characteristics in mind, we can create an almost endless supply of exercises to help sharpen our techniques of story telling. Narrative Voice Twenty or so years ago, voice was the "rite of passage" into a successful writing career. NOTE: It is quite common for writers in the early stages of their careers to imitate the writers they are reading or admire most.
How I Went From Writing 2,000 Words a Day to 10,000 Words a Day When I started writing The Spirit War (Eli novel #4), I had a bit of a problem. I had a brand new baby and my life (like every new mother's life) was constantly on the verge of shambles. I paid for a sitter four times a week so I could get some writing time, and I guarded these hours like a mama bear guards her cubs - with ferocity and hiker-mauling violence. To keep my schedule and make my deadlines, I needed to write 4000 words during each of these carefully arranged sessions. But (of course), things didn't work out like that. Needless to say, I felt like a failure. When I told people at ConCarolinas that I'd gone from writing 2k to 10k per day, I got a huge response. So, once and for all, here's the story of how I went from writing 500 words an hour to over 1500, and (hopefully) how you can too: A quick note: There are many fine, successful writers out there who equate writing quickly with being a hack. Update! Side 1: Knowledge, or Know What You're Writing Before You Write It
StoryMill Writing a great novel doesn't just happen, it is designed. It is thought out. It takes a writer who has discipline, creativity and open-mindedness. Introducing StoryMill 4 Take your idea for mystery, romance, adventure, action or science fiction and turn it into that novel you know is within but just needs a little help getting out. Let's take a peek inside StoryMill is incredibly flexible – use it as your no-nonsense place to write and revise using its distraction-free full screen and powerful annotations, or as your complete database of every character, location and scene that makes up your novel. Have Timeline, will travel The Timeline View is all new. "Each time I delve deeper into StoryMill and take more full advantage of its abundant resources, the writing process just gets simpler and simpler." Ridley PearsonNew York Times Best Selling We've taken some of the pain out of editing.
StartingYourBook Home Page Books Audio Books Flower Essence Remedies About Write the Book of Your Heart Rose Press Press Room Shopping Cart Contact The Rose Press "Creative Process" Book Series This series brings you closer to the Source of creation that is not only available to you, but is actually in you.Whether you want to start actually writing a book or simply become more intimate with your inherent creative ability, this series will unveil the mystery by bringing you into the Mystery of Creation, and give you insights, tools, and encouragement to take this wonderful, life-changing journey for yourself. Starting with Starting your Book. "I miss you. ~ love, your true nature A book whisperer charts a path to finding your own path through writing a book ~ and revealing the beauty of your true nature, in the process. Did you ever wish you could wave a magic wand and end up with a book you've written (that you love)? You can. Starting Your Book will activate this magic wand. Print edition: $17.95 E-book: $12.95
How to self-publish an ebook | Fully Equipped A while back I wrote a column titled "Self-publishing: 25 things you need to know," which was mostly about how to create and sell your own paper book. After folks asked me to do something similar for e-books, I created this article, which has now been updated a few times. I begin with one caveat: The whole e-book market is rapidly evolving, and a lot of self-publishing companies are offering e-book deals bundled into their print book publishing packages, which makes them harder to break out and evaluate. It's all quite complicated, and in an effort to sort through the confusion, I've decided to offer a few basic tips and present what I think are some of the best options out there for creating an e-book quickly and easily. As things change -- and they will -- I'll do my best to keep this column up to date. Tips: It's gotta be good: The same rule applies to self-published e-books as it does to print books. E-book publishing options: Coker has chided me a bit for disparaging the middleman.
m.guardian.co.uk From time to time, this column is asked for advice, sometimes obsessively, about decoding the many mysteries of "the world of books". There's a widespread view, held by those looking from the outside, that there must be a philosopher's stone for success in literature, a magic formula that will turn everything to gold. The truth is much closer to Thomas Edison's definition of creativity: "1% inspiration, 99% perspiration." So this is not an advice column. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. Finally: anything goes. Happy Christmas!
The Hot Word | Hot & Trending Words Daily Blog at Dictionary.com 50 Free Resources That Will Improve Your Writing Skills - Smashing Magazine Advertisement Today, too many websites are still inaccessible. In our new book Inclusive Design Patterns, we explore how to craft flexible front-end design patterns and make future-proof and accessible interfaces without extra effort. Hardcover, 312 pages. Effective writing skills are to a writer what petrol is to a car. Of course, effective writing requires a good command of the language in which you write or want to write. Further Reading on SmashingMag: Link We collected over 50 useful and practical tools and resources that will help you to improve your writing skills. 1. Use English Punctuation Correctly6 A quick and useful crash course in English punctuation. HyperGrammar7 An extensive electronic grammar course at the University of Ottawa’s Writing Centre. Grammar Girl8 Mignon Fogarty’s quick and dirty tips for better writing. English Style Guide – Economist16 This guide is based on the style book which is given to all journalists at The Economist. 2. Dr. 3. 4. Practical tips Link 5.