Persuasive Essay Topics & Original Ideas for Your Essay! How to write a letter without envelopes, cutting or glue Why you fail at writing One reason people fail at writing is simply they don’t know how to read well. When you write a page, you end up having to reread it many times. If you can’t read well, you probably can’t write well either. It seems counter-intuitive, but a way to be a better writer is to become a better reader first. People say they get stuck. Another common reason is found in this popular question: I really really want to write a book. Some things can not be done. If you don’t like writing a sentence, odds are good you won’t like paragraphs, and if you don’t like paragraphs you’ll be really pissed off when you learn about these things called pages (chapters will blow your mind). There is a big difference between wanting to say you wrote a book, and actually writing one. “A writer who isn’t writing is asking for trouble.” – Walter Kirn Many books are written by ghostwriters. Thousands of people start books and then stop. But many people who fail at writing really didn’t want to write in the first place.
The Research Paper: Developing Historical Questions What Is It? A way to teach students how to develop historical questions. This is the beginning of a multi-step research paper process that encourages sophisticated historical thinking. Rationale It’s no secret that high schools across the country are turning away from the decidedly “old-school” research paper in favor of shorter writing assignments or a variety of “new-school” technology based projects like blogs or webpages. Description Our research paper process guides students using a system with a seven-part structure (more detail on the entire process can be found here). Teacher Preparation Identify and model the qualities of good historical questions, as described in Handout 1, throughout the course (e.g. as lecture openings, test essays, class discussions, and at the beginning or end of structured debates). Sequence in the Classroom Each student develops a list of subjects about which she is interested (e.g. music, politics, arts, family life). Example Common Pitfalls Fischer, David.
How to to write a great lead for a blog post In journalism, the first paragraph or two of a newspaper or magazine article are known as the “lead paragraphs” or simply “the lede”. More time is spent writing that those few words than the rest of the story.Why? Because if you don’t catch the reader’s attention, they won’t read the article.The same applies to blog posts: after the headline, the most important words you write are in the lead paragraphs. If you want people to actually read your post (and thus come back to your blog for more), you need to focus on that lead.A great lead should do the following things: Grab the reader’s attention. Make the reader want to read more. That’s a lot of jobs for just a few words.
Is your book idea good? (Yes, I promise) “If you write for yourself, you’ll always have an audience.” -Bruce Springsteen“We can secure other people’s approval if we do right and try hard; but our own is worth a hundred of it, and no way has been found out of securing that. - Mark Twain It will take many hours to write a book. Therefore, you should write about something you, the writer, finds interesting. “Will anyone care about my story?” Many people with an idea want me to tell them their idea is worthy. Don’t wait for permission. If you care about the idea for the book, do it. If in the end if only one other person gets value from what you make, that alone justifies your efforts. If an idea lingers in your mind, and won’t leave you alone, just do it. If you think the story should be told, whether it’s yours, your Mom’s, or your imaginary friend Rupert’s, you are the only person in the world capable of telling it in the way you have it in your mind. So what if your idea is not original. Get started.
Fifteen Writing Exercises Writing exercises are a great way to increase your writing skills and generate new ideas. They give you perspective and help you break free from old patterns and crutches. To grow as a writer, you need to sometimes write without the expectation of publication or worry about who will read your work. Pick ten people you know and write a one-sentence description for each of them.
How to becoming a better writer by Stephen King If you want to learn how to write better where do you go? Well, you can take a creative writing course. Or read the books, biographies and studies of men and women hailed as literary geniuses throughout history. For today, I’ve chosen to take some advice from one the most popular fiction writers of the last few decades: Stephen King. Now, great sales figures aren’t always an indication of greatness in any field. But it probably means that the creator knows what s/he is doing and what works. , The Long Walk or The Running Man – are really good reads (and sometimes even greater films I’ve learned/been reminded about these seven tips by rereading King’s memoir/how-to-write book On Writing – highly recommended for many good insights into writing and a writer’s life – and by a whole bunch of his novels I’ve sacrificed sleep to keep on reading. 1. Don’t waste your reader’s time with too much back-story, long intros or longer anecdotes about your life. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. How do you find time to read more?
Writer's Block Doesn't Exist: Writing Exercises to Help You Generate Ideas There is no such thing as writer's block. Anyone who says they have it is just in denial. Writer's block is more of an excuse for poor writing. Turn off your computer screen. Make a list of titles. Write down what you hear. Read your work out loud. Start writing in the middle. The next time you find yourself frustrated with your writing, take a step back and try some of these exercises. Creative writing prompts Here are some creative writing prompts we've developed that you may find useful. We'll be adding to these periodically, so check back often. These have been compiled by many people, please feel free to contact us if you think of any. We'll be happy to add them. Creative Writing Prompts: Story Starters Think back to a time when you say a stranger say or do something that that caught your attention. Creative Writing Prompts: Character Development Your character comes upon a fork in a road and has no idea where to go. Creative Writing Prompts. © 2004, All Rights Reserved.
How to do better research A little while back, I wrote about ways for students to add a little extra “kick” to their research papers. Those strategies were meant for students who had already mastered the basics of performing research, not students just getting started doing research and writing papers. As with writing, though, research skills are rarely taught very clearly — professors assume students know or can figure out how to do good research, or at best turn their students over to a librarian for a tour of the library’s facilities and resources. Is it any wonder that so many university students rely on Wikipedia as the first and last stop in their research itinerary? To help students get up to speed on basic research skills, here’s 10 tips to help you find, organize, and use the information you need to put together a decent research paper. Schedule! These tips will help put a decent bibliography and a body of notes and data at your fingertips when you sit down to write up your paper. Read full content
25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing I read this cool article last week — “30 Things To Stop Doing To Yourself” — and I thought, hey, heeeey, that’s interesting. Writers might could use their own version of that. So, I started to cobble one together. And, of course, as most of these writing-related posts become, it ended up that for the most part I’m sitting here in the blog yelling at myself first and foremost. That is, then, how you should read this: me, yelling at me. If you take away something from it, though? Then go forth and kick your writing year in the teeth. Onto the list. 1. Right here is your story. 2. Momentum is everything. 3. You have a voice. 4. Worry is some useless shit. 5. The rise of self-publishing has seen a comparative surge forward in quantity. 6. I said “stop hurrying,” not “stand still and fall asleep.” 7. It’s not going to get any easier, and why should it? 8. 9. The mind is the writer’s best weapon. 10. 11. 12. Writers are often ashamed at who they are and what they do. 13. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 14.
Journal Writing Prompts Looking for some free journal writing prompts? A situation might have arisen compelling you to record a piece of your history; to retell some of your family stories, your traditions, and highlight some of your quirky and unusual family members. What do you write about? Maybe you have considered writing your personal autobiography and need some ideas to get you started. I love to simply pick up my pencil and put it to paper without thinking too much about what I am writing about. You will probably surprise yourself and find out that there is alot more substance to you than you originally thought. Journaling Prompts: All About Me Write down your full name. Recommended Links A list of journal writing ideas to get your started. More journaling topics and ideas. Journaling Tools. How to write a journal step-by-step. More journaling prompts: the Clock is Ticking. Quack? Types of journals. What is a journal? Return From Journal Writing Prompts to the Homepage