How To Be A Successful Evil Overlord - StumbleUpon How to be a Successful Evil Overlord by Peter Anspach Being an Evil Overlord seems to be a good career choice. It pays well, there are all sorts of perks and you can set your own hours. The Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear Plexiglas visors, not face concealing ones. Creative Writing For Dummies Cheat Sheet Rewriting and editing helps to tighten up your work. But it can be difficult – what to chop and when to stop may not be clear, and you may change your mind more than once during the process. Ask yourself whether you need to take out: Unnecessary information and explanation. Passages of dialogue that go on too long. Clunky descriptions that give too much detail. You may need to add or expand: Something you know but have forgotten to tell the reader; perhaps the age of the main character. You may need to move: Dramatic sections to make a stronger opening. In your final edit: Check for grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes.
5 editor's secrets to help you write like a pro | Remarkable Communication - StumbleUpon I do a lot of copyediting, both of books and advertising collateral. I’ll let you in on a secret that still surprises me, although I’ve seen it hundreds of times now. If you looked at the raw work of most professional writers, you’d be pretty underwhelmed. Professional writers get work because they hit their deadlines, they stay on message, and they don’t throw too many tantrums. Professional writers rely on editors to fix their clunks. Editing, like writing, takes time to learn. 1. Have you ever heard a four-year-old run out of breath before she can finish her thought? Sentences are building blocks, not bungee cords; they’re not meant to be stretched to the limit. 2. A paragraph supports a single idea. 3. Nouns ending in -ing are fine. (If for some insane reason you want to get all geeky about this, you can read the Wikipedia article on gerunds and present participles. 4. I know we all heard this in high school, but we weren’t listening. 5. Bonus: Use spell-check
Internet Resources - Writers Resources - Writing Links & Writers Links for Writers - Word Stuff - StumbleUpon Unsorted [/writers] James Patrick Kelly - Murder Your Darlings - "When time comes to make that final revision, however, you must harden your heart, sharpen the ax and murder your darlings." Greda Vaso - Determining the Readability of a Book - includes formulas for Gunning's Fog Index, Flesch Formula, Powers Sumner Kearl L. Kip Wheeler - Literary Terms and Definitions L. Kip Wheeler - Comp - Lit - Poetry - Links - more Style - Grammar - Errors in English [/writers]American Heritage - Book of English Usage - free download Band-Aid AP StylebookPaul Brians - Common Errors in EnglishCJ Cherryh - Writerisms and other Sins The Chicago Manual of Style FAQ Gary N. Curtis - The Fallacy Files - Logical fallacies and bad arguments Prof.
50 of the Best Websites for Writers - StumbleUpon There are tons of reference sites on the web that can help you find a job or write a poem, essay or story. Here is a list of the best 50 websites for writers. Reference Websites Merriam-Webster Online - Merriam Webster is the perfect place to look up words and find information. General Writing Websites Writer's Digest - Probably one of the best all-around websites for writers, Writer's Digest offers information on writing better and getting published. Fiction Writing Websites About.com - About.com publishes a Guide to Fiction Writing with general information about fiction writing and a number of community forums for both current and aspiring writers. Nonfiction Writing Websites Bella Online - This site offers a large collection of resources for nonfiction writers. Websites for Freelance Writers and Authors Media Bistro - This site is a good place to find freelance jobs online.
How to Improve Your Writing (Without Improving Your Writing) - StumbleUpon Welcome to Adventuroo! I'm Melissa and I blog about motherhood and capturing the everyday. Subscribe to my RSS feed to keep up with the latest posts! Momcomm Monday has moved to its own blog, Momcomm. Stop by and join the newsletter list to get a free mini-ebook of the plugins, ebooks, tools and other schtuff that I use to run my blog. One secret of improving your writing actually has nothing to do with your actual writing. I’m serious. It has to do with how you format your thoughts and play with your words visually. Before the word “format” throws you into a tizzy because it sounds so dang boring, let me share with you these formatting tricks that will improve your blog posts without changing a word of what you say. Banish the long paragraphs I can see how it happens. Whoa! Already done that? It’s not just about the looks. Use paragraph breaks to convey emotion Paragraphs can be a powerful way to add emotion to your words without even changing your writing. Play with words How about you?
25 Things You Should Know About Word Choice - StumbleUpon 1. A Series Of Word Choices Here’s why this matters: because both writing and storytelling comprise, at the most basic level, a series of word choices. 2. Words are like LEGO bricks: the more we add, the more we define the reality of our playset. 3. You know that game — “Oh, you’re cold, colder, colder — oh! 4. Think of it like a different game, perhaps: you’re trying to say as much as possible with as few words as you can muster. 5. Finding the perfect word is as likely as finding a downy-soft unicorn with a pearlescent horn riding a skateboard made from the bones of your many enemies. 6. For every right word, you have an infinity of wrong ones. 7. You might use a word that either oversteps or fails to meet the idea you hope to present. 8. Remember how I said earlier that words are like LEGO, blah blah blah help define reality yadda yadda poop noise? 9. Incorrect word choice means you’re using the wrong damn word. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Am. 15. No, really. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.
100 Useful Web Tools for Writers | College Degrees All kinds of writers, including poets, biographers, journalists, biz tech writers, students, bloggers and technical writers, take a unique approach to their jobs, mixing creativity with sustainability. Whether you’re a freelance writer just scraping by or someone with a solid job and more regular hours, the Internet can provide you with unending support for your practical duties like billing, scheduling appointments, and of course getting paid; as well as for your more creative pursuits, like developing a plot, finding inspiration and playing around with words. Turn to this list for 100 useful Web tools that will help you with your career, your sanity and your creativity whenever your write. Getting Organized Thanks to the Internet, disorganized writers are no longer a cliche. Finding Inspiration Beat down writer’s block by using these online idea prompts and inspirational tools. Getting Gigs For many writers, finding a gig is the hardest part of their career. Networking and Marketing
7 Ways to Use Brain Science to Hook Readers Writing and brain science Story is universal. There isn’t a society on earth that doesn’t tell stories. It’s no wonder, because stories captivate us in a way nothing else can. And yet, until recently, story was primarily seen as a delightful form of entertainment. Wrong! It turns out story has been crucial to our survival from day one. In the same way that food tastes good so we’ll eat it, stories are entertaining so we’ll pay attention to them. Curiosity is the trigger. In other words, the desire to find out what happens next. This information is a game changer for writers. So, with that in mind, let’s explore 7 ways your story can hook the reader’s brain. 1. Surprise gets our attention by defying our expectations. That’s exactly how a story grabs the brain’s attention: by instantly letting us know that all is not as it seems – yes, beginning with the opening sentence. The reader’s first question is: “What’s this story about?” 2. 3. Why is this so important? 4. The same is true of a story.