So you’ve got this far, you’ve viewed some Articles by other authors or you’ve found a topic now that one else is writing about and you’re ready to start you’re all psyched up and ready to go and then…

“This is it, this is it I’m going to write an article” and then your mind goes blank and the thought of writing an article brings you back to those days when you sat at school and churned out page after page of essays for homework and then you think “I cant do this” and you want to give up. But don’t!

You may think that everyone that writes any article must have been an “A” class student at English and loved writing and that they just sit at a computer and the words just flow out, but for some of us that’s far from the truth. Don’t worry if you first attempt bombs and only a few people read that’s fine some of mine have don’t give up now before you’ve even started. Think about what you’ll achieve by writing your first article, the people you’ll help and the sense of achievement of having an article published, floating around somewhere out there in cyberspace with your name on it.

But, if you still having a hard time here’s a couple of tips you can try out to help get you started

•Make a list of questions about your topic, the frequently asked questions and then make a top 5 or 10 list (you could have too much information for one article so why not spread it over a couple of articles!).

•Have you got a funny story related to your subject, everyone like’s a good laugh and be entertained. You could try to work this into an article.

•Make a list of the best free resources or best websites people could use on your subject and give a review of each. People love free things so this could get passed around a lot. And don’t be afraid that by sending people to other websites that you’re shooting yourself in the foot and going to lose money or visitors. You’ll also come across as being helpful and also an expert on your topic.

•What new in the news on your subject, is there a new gadget out or a new way of doing things for better results?

•Do you disagree with what’s being said on your topic, give your opinion. Not everyone will agree with you but it’s a way of making a name for yourself as long as it’s done correctly and not just trying to find fault with everything that’s being said.

In one of his acts, comedian Chris Rock tells a joke where he calls a certain class of men, “Low-expectation-having folks.” (Of course, that’s not the word he used.) At any rate, he had a valid point about people not expecting enough from life. Granted, we’ve been taught that it is a sin to aim too low. And although I don’t think a person can ever aim too high, I do believe a person can suffer from having unrealistically high expectations as to what the returns should be on an endeavor.

To illustrate the point, as a social worker, one of the first trainings I ever attended was about the world of abnormal childrearing. The WAR cycle, it was called. Simply put, at the crux of most child abuse, it was found that the parent had unrealistic expectations as to the stages of child development. This included expecting children to be potty trained at six months, to not get into things at age two and to even sleep all night as a newborn. Subsequently, in a fit of rage, a parent would inappropriately “physically discipline” (abuse) a child. Sad to say, many of these children wound up in the hospital, or worse, for these normal developmental milestones.

As a writer, I’m always looking for comparisons in life lessons, so let’s apply this to being a writer. This is what I’ve come up with. I am beginning to see a similar syndrome, for some writers, whether self-published or not.

I call this syndrome The “WAR cycle” for writers. In other words, “The World Of Absent Realism.” When we are writing, we are often absent from reality. And by no means should we give up our imagination, since it is the source of our writing. But let’s face it. When it comes to pushing our books, we have to be “Keeping it Real.” As writers, we are dreamers.

Okay, we’ve written the All American Novel. Even so, our biggest dream is to be published. We can already see the red carpet rolled out with stretch limousines and six-seven figure checks rolling in as soon as the ink dries. We’re fulfilled with the writing in itself, but if we by chance luck up and get published, we expect the world to beat a path to our door after we’ve accomplished this feat.

Unfortunately, when things don’t take off right away, we abuse our child, our dream, by either giving up too soon or blaming our publisher or our agent. To use a metaphor, we want to plant a seed and see a tree the next day. Like the abusive parent, we want to accelerate the development process necessary to getting known as a writer.

What made me realize this is a friend (who is self-published) went to a literary retreat and came home amazed at the number of disgruntled writers she met. Even when they had four or five books with traditional publishers, they alleged they had not been paid since their advance. In my friend’s case, at the end of the day, not only did she and another self-published writer sell the most books, they got paid. The other writers could not collect any money until their royalty payment. Perhaps both self-published and traditionally published writers can take lessons from these two literary entrepreneurs’ “hustle.” The main thing is to avoid the WAR Trap.

How to Avoid the War Trap

Remember, it can take 20 times exposure before a person recognizes or buys a book. In direct marketing, only 10% of the people contacted will be buyers. The 20/80% rule also applies to book buyers. Try to write more than one book and develop repeat customers. Remember it can take 100 no’s to get to a yes. Don’t spend all the book advance and then not have enough to go on a book tour. Try to negotiate more for marketing. If you live near a book store, why aren’t you scheduling booksignings on a regular basis? If you can’t do a physical tour, why not do a virtual tour? Give up the fantasy that you get rich with one book. (If you do, fine, but it’s a rarity.) Empower yourself by getting a web page. Stop being afraid of sharing, which leads to networking. There is no shortage when you come from a position of abundance. Make use of print on demand. Write e-books. Use e-mail and save postage. Use Free advertisement on the Internet through book reviews, interviews, and e-zines. Start a newsletter. Write articles to help promote your books. Post on message boards. Do Internet Radio Show Interviews. Develop ways to market your book off-line and on-line such as through the Publisher’s Marketing Association, Cushcity.com’s coop advertising.

Maxine Thompson(www.maxinethompson.com and www.maxineshow.com ) is the owner of Thompson Literary Agency and Thompson Literary Services. She is also the owner of Black Butterfly Press. If you are interested in being on one of her internet radio shows as a guest you can email her at maxtho@aol.com or maxtho@sbcglobal.net
You can sign up for her free newsletter at www.maxinethompson.com .

In the field of online article writing we have a cross breed it seems. We have some liberal writers and some small business folks peddling their wares and some who are simply sharing writing and experiences. Each writer has a personal reason for doing what they do and the ego of the writers is well known indeed. Some writers are arrogant beyond belief in fact they are so high and mighty that they demand perfection at all costs. Yet in the end much of the garbage on these article content type sites is just nothingness or repeated industry filler like in the trade journals. What is the point?

Many of the folks here have some ridiculous worthless website selling something online to those who hit their author “Bio Links” at the bottom of the articles they write. Many of these writers claim professionalism, perfect spelling and grammar. Yet personally I do a lot of reading and find most news media, books, magazine articles so riddled with garbage, that who cares if they spell anything right because the content sucks? Something of course to consider in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Without question the best way to improve your public speaking ability is to speak. Speak anywhere, anytime you can gain an invitation to do so. However it is also important for someone who wants to speak well, to write well. This is one of the biggest reasons beginning speakers are told to write their speeches out. One of the biggest advantages to this approach is it helps you gain structure to what you are trying to say. When I speak I have literally been known to rewrite my speech on the fly ! I can do this because I have strong writing skills. I can actually picture the outline of my speech in my head, without looking at my notes ! Writing your speech out also makes editing easier, because you can see it in front of you and think about it line by line. But the relationship between writing and speaking is more than just writing your speech out. It also includes writing things other than just your speeches. What you write doesn’t even matter. Write letters, articles whatever. The point is the better writer you become, the better speaker you become. Guess what ? The best way to become the best writer you can be, is to write incessantly.

Even though writing is the best way to become a better writer, there’s more that you can do. Read ! Read everything possible. One of the best things a person who wants to improve their writing skill can read is the daily newspaper. This ties directly into the two key advantages of reading to the writer. One especially with a newspaper, reading keeps you informed. From this you get topic ideas, and current information about your topic to feed your content creation. Second reading teaches you about words, how they should flow. Newspapers are good for this, in part because they are written to be understood by the average person. Reading a newspaper helps you learn how to explain things in an organized way. Even so don’t discount the value of reading top quality fiction. From this type of reading you can learn how to express things in a more narrative, entertaining way.

So remember that speaking, writing, and reading are not completely separate activities. They are in many ways, different aspects of the same craft. Being better at any of the three makes you better at all of them. Practice using this to your advantage.

Robert A. Crutchfield is president of Kingdom Relationship Ministries. He is a minister, public speaker, and success/relationships coach.He holds the Competent Leader Award from Toastmasters International, and is a Brainbench Certified Trainer. He is a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. Visit him online at http://www.kingdomrelationships.org.

For those who don’t know exactly what an internship is, it’s not like being an intern at a hospital when you’re a doctor. You do get paid for that. We’re talking about the kinds of internships where you do them simply for the chance to break into whatever field of writing you want to break into.

For example, if you’re an aspiring songwriter, you may want to volunteer your services at a publishing company. Many times these companies hire staff writers for the purpose of writing filler material for a star’s up and coming CD. The “hit” they hope to find through an outside writer out of the millions of submissions that they receive. This is the song they are going to pay a portion of the royalties for, but the staff written songs are owned by the company itself so no royalties are paid. This is an opportunity to volunteer to be part of this team even for no pay, just for the chance to write. In many cases this offer will be well received and you’ll be given the chance to contribute material to the team. The benefit of this is that if you write enough material that they like you may be given a shot down the road to either join the staff writing team for pay or even get a chance to write a potential hit song.

In another example, let’s say you are trying to get a job writing for a newspaper. Many papers are always looking for articles or stories to fill up the less important sections of the paper. There are only so many major stories to go around. If you are knowledgeable in a certain area, say sports, they may hire you as an intern to write some sports related articles for them to appear at the back of the sports section. You won’t get paid for this but it will be good experience and if your work is good enough there is always a chance that the paper will hire you.

For those who want to make it as screenplay writers or playwrights, there is always the local workshops where you can go down and offer your services. Many of these small theaters are looking for new material because a new play will always attract some curiosity from critics and agents. This is a good way for them to get their actors noticed and for you to get your material noticed at the same time. Obviously the quality of the performance won’t be like a Broadway show, and this will detract somewhat from your written words, but a good critic or agent will be able to spot good material, even if the acting isn’t up to par.

For each field there will be different things that you will be able to do. But the key word is volunteer. Make it perfectly clear that you are not looking for payment, just the chance to have you work seen.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Writing Tips

You turn back from your gaze that seemed to last but only a moment. The harsh reality hits you square between the eyes, you have to write this new page or article before you to can enjoy this day.

Only problem is you have been staring at the blank page for the last two hours trying to come up with the perfect, or as close to it, idea. Another hour passes as you have two cups of coffee, some biscuits, a chat with th dog, pacing up and down the passage, and you have still not come up with a single word.

It is true that you cannot turn your creativity on and off as you please, a few lucky ones can but for the most of us it is rather an impossible task.

Strangely enough, these modern computers that we own, with all the bells and whistles still don’t help us a single bit when we have to write or create something, it is just a patient assistant.

Next time you need to come up with something new and fresh follow these steps and they will lead you to getting your idea written.

Pick a word for your topic, any word that relates to your idea or product at this point in time.

Go to your overture keyword tool and type in your word. Sift through the results and choose five keyword phrases that describes your idea more clearly than the single word you wrote down.

Sit back, relax and think over it for a while, maybe even get another cup of coffee. The important thing now is not to try and rush the writing, if you do you will just have to do it all over again, have patience.

When you come back jot down some ideas that relate to your subject and scramble the phrases you wrote down around.

These will become your main themes.

Open Google search and click on the advanced search. The reason for using advanced search is that it will return good results unlike a normal web search where you have to filter through piles of pages before you get to what you are interested in. This type of search will save you a lot of time.

Getting ideas off the top of your head is not always that easy so we will find a ways to help us. This is a good way to go about finding information if you have no idea what words to put into a sentence let alone write 800 word article about it.

Type each of your main themes, words or keyword phrases into the tool. Set it to show 10 results. Open the sites one by one and firstly determine if what you see, is relevant to what you want to write. If so read through the content once or twice and take out the main elements or ideas you find to be important to your article.

Go through all ten. You will find that only about half will be relevant to you. You will probably also come across ideas or information you never even thought of in the first place, which is a huge bonus for a little work.

As you research write the ideas or headings for ideas down in your document. Don’t worry what it looks like at this stage just keep on going.

Once you have finished with the research, give yourself a break just to clear your mind. Take a walk with the dog, talk to the trees and plants and in so doing amuse the neighbors. At least they now have something to talk about.

Go back to your computer and start sorting the info you wrote down, don’t rewrite yet, first cut and paste in the page so that you have an article that will make sense, and remember to have a beginning, middle and end.

Once you have completed, start rewriting your information in sentences and paragraphs, easily readable and understandable.

This is one way that works, if you have no idea what you want to write about, or how to write it. The research might take some time but you can be sure you will have a valuable article for your readers by the time you are finished, not just garble.

Happy Writing!

Karl Stadler is a internet marketer and author. Here is a site with some interesting information about dogs Dog Info