Khalil-Ghibran - Writer Author and Producer, Subscription Service, Books, Music

"But I've only been on the Internet 3 months! How can I write an article?” That was my reaction back in 1999 when I began my online career and heard that writing articles was the key to bringing targeted visitors to my website. But I went ahead anyway and wrote my first article. I soon discovered that writing articles is the quickest way to build your reputation as an expert in the world of online marketing. So don’t wait for someone else's permission - start writing articles and grab your space in the limelight. Here are some other mental blocks and how to deal with them: "I don't where to start". Start anywhere - it doesn't matter where. Putting words on paper is like planting a seed in your subconscious. Your mind will go to work on it while you're busy doing other things: while you’re driving, while you’re sleeping, while you're doing the dishes. Suddenly, out of nowhere, will come the next idea. That’s the power of the subconscio

Whenever you gather writers together they talk about writing. There are many different types of writers. Those who prefer to compose in long-hand or can only write on an old-fashioned manual typewriter. Those who write to music, demand complete silence, or create best surrounded by noise. You have the writers who must plan and outline before they can begin and those who find even talking about a project before it is drafted can stifle their creativity. But one of the most controversial divisions among writers is about whether writing is a skill, craft, or gift. I admit that I like to stir the fire a bit because I can argue all three points and depending on how my own writing is going at the moment I may find that one viewpoint carries more weight for me personally. I know as a teacher of writing that writing is a skill. I have taken people, young and old, who loathed writing and believed they would never be able to write -- and provided them with basic tips and tools to become

Why write an eBook? You want ongoing, lifelong multiple streams of income. You want to raise your credibility and trust ratings with clients or customers. You want to get your message out so the world can be a better place. You want to spend only a little time on it. (Would you be willing to spend 4 hours a week?) You want to get it out fast (Would 4-8 weeks be OK?) You want to market for a low-cost investment. And, for some of you, you are ready to be innovative and even take a small risk to get your eBook read by hundreds of thousands, rather than hundreds! Where are you now? You have an idea for your eBook; you have a lot of ideas! Take a moment and decide which one you are most passionate about now and will be for the next year or two. Focus on one great idea, where you know what the audience needs or wants-- your solutions to their problem. Or, do you have your eBook well on its way, but aren't finished. You need advice on how to get it done, what to include, w

Remember back in the dark days of your school years when you had to learn the parts of speech?  A noun is the name of a person, place, or thing. When asked what a verb was, you smugly answered, A verb is a word that indicates action, or some such definition. Fine. You got that straight. Since then, you've uttered or written verbs in the hundreds of thousands. Verbs are great words. They enable us to describe actions or states of being or feelings we'd be hard pressed to convey without them. "John outside the house. John inside the house. John in bed." Primitive, to say the least. With the help of verbs, we can say, "John came home and went directly to bed." Still, if verbs are indispensable in our speech and in our writing, why do we neglect them so? Yes, we neglect them terribly. There are countless verbs just sitting in our dictionaries that are rarely taken out and used, seldom get to feel themselves flowing out of our mouths or proudly sitting

If you want to make money online a good strategy that won't cost you a dime is to write articles that relate to your product or service. Search Engines are constantly on the "look out" for freshly written content that has been submitted online. So how do you come up with ideas for your next article? Here are several suggestions that may help... * Hang out in online forums. Watch what people are talking about. Look at the questions they are asking. The topics that are bringing the greatest number of visitors would make for an excellent article. * Take a look at what information is being broadcast on TV, radio, newspapers, and online. This information is usually a hot topic. * Read blogs. What are people posting about? What kind of comments are they leaving? What questions do they have? Blogs are the hot internet marketing medium right now and you can literally find them everywhere on any topic. This is an excellent source for your next article idea. * Survey

Learning to write depends largely on how well you’ve learned to read.  When readers read a story, they bring along their own experiences and understanding.   The author tries to guide the responses, but inevitably each reader will perceive it in their own individual way.  Ethnic background, education and life experience all contribute to the images they see and their response to the story. As readers, we can and should make an effort to understand what an author seems to be getting at.   Writers can tell a great deal, but they cannot and should not tell us everything.  They write for an audience that they assume will know at least as much as they do about the topic; and they depend on their critiquing readers to know how to read with a certain, basic skill.  Learning to read  comprehensively and to make reasonable inferences will pull the reader beyond his own experience level and he will be better equipped to read with understanding even those works out of his familiar genre. 

Creative writing is one of the most difficult jobs in the world. However, you really don't need a special talent for it. What you need is a paper, a pen and a very good imagination that is worthy of telling your story to other people. With good imagination, you can really capture your audience's minds and keep them reading your work. However, you have to know that a good imagination is simply not enough when you are writing. You also need to consider quite a few things first before you start writing. It is a fact that many authors find it hard to write an article or a novel. So, if you are experiencing difficulty in writing an article or a novel, it is just natural. The first thing you need to consider is to have an appropriate environment in order for you to concentrate on work. Create your own writing environment to enable you to write more effectively and think more effectively. Consider the clothes you wear, the music you want to hear while writing, the temperature

One subject arising whenever writers gather to discuss their craft is the mining of life itself for story material. While a vital and important technique, it is important to remember that real human beings are impossibly complex, far too complicated to serve as story characters without major modification. The most complex character in all of western fiction (arguably), Hamlet, is still only 1% as complex as a real human being. One must remember that there is a unity between character and plot: they are, in essence, two sides of a single coin. Plot is what a character does in a given situation. A plot must empty a character out, give us everything we need to know about the lead, or the story situation hasn't been thought through very well. In life, it is reasonable to take the position that we are what we do. True, this is not ALL that we are, but what we do is closer to this essence than what we "think" we are, or what others define us as. Everyone knows that we

Publishing a book is one of the best ways to position yourself as an expert in your field. Not only that but the book demonstrates your expertise in its best and most organized format. And perhaps the biggest advantage of all is that your book allows people to be introduced to your expertise without you doing a thing. Yes, you have to write it and get it published. And you also have to market it. But after that, you can sit back and let people read it on their own time. So let’s talk about some of the realities behind publishing your own book. The biggest misconception people have about the process is that the publishing company does the marketing. Untrue. Regardless of the publishing company you use, the responsibility falls squarely on the author. And that’s a rude awakening for most aspiring authors. Marketing is no easy task and the biggest priority of publishers considering your book proposal is NOT the quality of your writing or the brilliance of your idea but your abilit

I am lucky. I have no problems coming up with very good ideas for movies. If I never had another idea for the rest of my life, I would not make a sizable dent in the ones I already have. Screenwriters who struggle with coming up with an idea tend to be visibly annoyed when I tell them this. I think I’m comfortable sharing this with others because I know movie ideas really mean nothing and please nobody in and of themselves, so there’s not much to brag about. I guess you can get lucky and sell an idea, but in terms of what’s important, a motion picture screened in front of people, a great idea is simply a member of the orchestra that achieves that vision. I’m not sure where all the ideas come from, but I can tell you where I was, and by telling you this, perhaps this will help you come up with your idea. First, you should know what you want to write. A feature? For the studios? For yourself to direct? Maybe a low budget script for someone else to direct. Will it be shot on film

My back hurts and head throbs. The lights are too bright; the temperature too cold. Is it the flu? Some as-yet unnamed dread disease? No, it’s just that it’s already 8 p.m. on a Sunday and I have a deadline for my weekly column in a short twelve hours. I have asked writers I’ve met over the years how they feel about the bane of my existence: deadlines. “I love deadlines. They keep me motivated,” one giddy writer told me. Another squealed, “I love writing so much that I’m always turning in assignments two weeks before they are due!” Sheer insanity, I think, as I flip through the television channels. Who can be happy at the thought of a looming deadline? I look at the clock; 8:30 p.m. Still time to have a snack and maybe read a chapter in that new mystery. By 9 o’clock, with full tummy and unable to find that novel, I pick up a notepad. “Duck confit, mixed berry coulis, a side of mixed greens wilted with a bacon fat and vinegar dressing, and roasted parsnips.” The meal was e

Are you trying to get organized so you have more time to write?  Here are six rules guaranteed to make you more productive and more organized when you add them to your life. 1. Work with Yourself, Not Against Yourself When you're trying to become more organized, it's tempting to try and fit into the existing organizing system of an "expert." They seem organized and they promise that if you try it, you'll be organized, too. What's more effective is to understand your personality and what works for you. There are MANY solutions and you may have to experiment to find the system that best fits the way you work--your mind, your body and the way you think. And this might be a combination of ideas from many different experts. Give something new a fair trial, but if after a month or so it feels awkward or counterintuitive, let it go and find something else! 2. Focus and Pay Attention If you find that you always seem to be busy but that you never have a

So it’s your dream to write novels? Be a freelance writer and make a living off of your articles? Or maybe you nurture an ambition to write and sell enough short fiction to put bread on the table, like those writers of the golden age of the pulps? Well, those are all noble dreams to have. I’m smitten by the writer’s glamour myself. Also I’m grateful for the others who were, those authors whom I love to read and return to time and again. I’m grateful that they possessed not only their artistic vision, but also the sheer stubbornness and will to persevere and see their dreams become reality. So we’ve settled on the fact that we want to be writers, and that no other dream will do. Now let’s take a look at what this is likely to mean in terms of the sacrifices we’ll have to make along the way. 1. Misunderstanding. Make no doubts about it – even those closest to us may not understand or even sympathize with our dream. Young authors still in school or living at home should prepare

Very few people can avoid writing on a daily basis. Of course, some people really enjoy writing, others do it out of necessity. Writing, essentially, involves placing a series of words together to convey a certain message or meaning. To write in its basic form is not a difficult task. Some people are natural writers, others find it a lot harder and have to work at the process in order to convey what they are trying to say. Writing is normally done by an individual. For certain individuals, writing their feelings down is a choice form of self-expression. The mere process of keeping a written record of one's daily trials and tribulations, in the form of a personal journal or blog (in electronic form) has a healing effect. Blogging is now big, in our electronically-driven society. Some people write for a living such as journalists, advertising and commercial copywriters and ghostwriters for publishing houses, as well as novelists. Careers in writing range from producing page

Few people know that many of William Shakespeare’s plays were published posthumously. Virginia Fellows’ Shakespeare Code includes an intriguing discussion of works attributed to Shakespeare that appeared after his passing in 1616. Shakespeare had been dead for seven years when the First Folio of his collected works was published. This celebrated Folio edition contained 36 plays, half of which had never been seen before. According to Fellows, many of the previously unpublished plays “were entered into the Stationer’s Register on November 8, 1623, just in time for publication” a little later that same month. More fascinating still, a number of plays published previously were altered. There were deletions as well as new additions. Fellows writes: “In the First Folio, The Merry Wives of Windsor has twelve hundred more lines than it had in 1602, Titus Andronicus has a whole new scene, and Henry V is double the length of the 1600 edition.” Given the fact that Shakespeare was long gon

Here's the question – is it better to have a secondary plot or sub-plots? Here's another question, which as a reader, and then as a writer do you prefer? I think you have to have both. Subplot = A subordinate plot in fiction or drama. In our terms (A relating plot) Basically a hidden plot that some readers miss and writers don't know they have written, which helps bring the romance to the surface. Also known as twist and turns through out the romance. A secondary plot is second story happening in the process of the romance. Such as a Mystery Romance, solving the murders. As a reader I prefer and expect both. As a writer I love the secondary plot and fear the subplot. Not only do you have to worry about coming up with ways for the romance to move foreword and the secondary plot to come to an end but you have to add this hidden tale of the romance. Man what a pain in the ole writers wrist. What makes a good secondary plot? And what makes a good sub-plot? Can yo

Writing for pay as a way to make money from home may seem like a good idea however there are some considerations to make before jumping headlong into such a venture. Here are some pointers that may help you decide if writing for pay is for you. For starters, you need to enjoy writing. Do you have difficulty composing a letter? Do you relive that anguish some felt from high school when it comes to writing an essay? If so, you may wish to seek an alternative way to make money from home. However, if you do enjoy writing and have basic grammar skills, writing from home could be a viable income source for you. Keep in mind, writers spend a lot of time at home working alone. Do you prefer to work solo or does working in groups appeal to you more? Being a writer means completing tasks under a deadline which also means writing under pressure. Should you get a 1000 word article assignment, can you complete it within a day if needed? It is also important to have excellent research skill

People are visual creatures. They look at your product, and see, for example, a button or display. They want to find out about that control or indicator. A Visual Index is a simple but powerful document access tool that enables your Readers to find the information that they want. This article describes the Visual Index concept and tells how to create one for your document. A VISUAL INDEX A Visual Index is a picture of your product or process with links to the relevant information in the related document. Using a Visual Index, your Readers can look at the picture, and quickly jump to the place in your document that describes the item of interest. Your document may include several Visual Indexes (the plural of "index' is "indexes" not "indices"). STARTS WITH A PICTURE The Visual Index starts with a picture of your product or process. There are various kinds of pictures to use, based on the product type: * Physical Product (for example, a ba

Does a title really sell a book? The short answer is, yes. If a book does not attract a reader initially, it will be overlooked and not purchased. The book title is the element that creates the initial attraction to the book. Watch people who are browsing in a bookstore. A catchy title grabs their interest and makes them reach for the book out of curiosity. A great title makes browsers think, “Really?” or “What does THAT mean?” or “That’s what I need”. Think long and hard when choosing your book’s title. The title must give some clues about the book’s contents in a snappy “one-liner”. Many authors struggle fiercely with the title choice, not realizing that the title is there somewhere in the book’s contents. They just haven’t recognized it because they are too close to the project. Sometimes it helps to talk to impartial, unbiased persons. Tell them what your book is about, and then listen to their feedback. Alternately, on the tongue-in-cheek advice of one publishing profess

A lot of Linguists and other scientists tried to establish a lot of methods to improve human memory and make the chain of thoughts and ideas more fluent and coherent. Robert Dilts was one of the scientists that established Neuro-Linguistic Programming as a way to improve writing skills and make then overall view of possibilities clearer. The scientist worked along with his colleagues and observed the work of professional writers to see the main difference. The presentation of it showed that it really helps to improve writing skills. This method can be used by individuals regardless their age. The main aim of the Programming is: To determine the most active sense and concentrate on tailoring other four to it; To learn to concentrate on the topic and switch on imagination when necessary; Lexical interchanges make your vocabulary richer and nobler. The most important thing about writing is the topic examination. Thing about it as of the thesis statement of your paper and focus o

What a plot is and what a story is can be sometimes confusing. If you think they are the same… They are not. A plot is the outline of your story. The story is everything included. I will illustrate the difference by asking you to visualize two pictures… 1. Visualize a skeleton. Then 2. Visualize a body. The skeleton is your plot. It’s the outline of your story. It won’t be visible when we flesh it out but it will still be there, holding your story together. The body is your story. It’s everything, which our story will contain, including the plot. The story is the plot fleshed out. What does it mean to ‘flesh it out?’ Let me show you. I’ll take a brief plot… A man meets a woman and they fall in love. They encounter great difficulties because their family are against the relationship. This is the outline of the story. Now we are going to flesh it out and make it into a story. Fleshing it out means adding things to make this basic plot into a story. To do this w

The six-figure book advance, like the New York Times bestseller, is the object of many a writer’s fantasy. Whether it’s also a realistic goal is something else again. *Can you really get a six-figure book advance?* When Susan Page wrote *The Shortest Distance Between You and a Published Book* in 1997, she included the following list of the qualities that you and your book have to have if you’re going to get a six-figure advance. Your book is on a topic of wide general interest that could excite a large number of readers. Your book has a distinctive angle and makes an original contribution to its field. You have substantial credentials to write on this topic OR you have a co-author who does, OR you can get an extremely famous, well-credentialed person to write a foreword for you. You have prepared an extraordinary proposal and are working with a competent editor already. You have a show-stopping title. You secure the services of a well-known, experienced agent who b

People that love to write often feel being paid for publication is the benchmark of a “real” writer. So they read all the books on writing and dutifully send off queries, filled with hope and fear that one will be accepted: hope they’ll get the chance to be a real writer, fear they won’t live up to the challenge. Sadly, for some, their fears will turn out to be well founded. The emotional highs and lows of writing for pay will be more painful then they can bear. Shocked, wounded, these natural writers will put their dreams behind them in the mistaken belief that they’re not good enough to write for publication. Why does this happen? Because books on writing often fail to tell the aspiring writer the one thing they most need to know: the marketplace demands more than talent. It demands that the writer be skilled at dancing between the emotional states of passion and detachment. It seems like a conundrum, and it is, so let’s unravel this riddle. The writer filled with fervor fo

Many writers say it: "I don't read when I'm writing". They think it will contaminate their voice, that whatever style they're reading will somehow seep into their work and it really won't be theirs. That's only a problem if you're writing a 21st-century urban romance and last night's reading of Pride and Prejudice has you making your characters sound like they're in an English drawing room and not a Miami nightclub! In fact, if you're not reading while you're working on your book, you're missing out on the many ways you can learn from authors past and present who have dealt with the very same issues you're struggling with. I once heard that if a writer is stuck or has writer's block, it's because he or she hasn't done their homework, and for a writer homework is reading. But how do you know what to read and how to make use of it? Here are 4 easy tips to getting the most out of your reading. Identify the Str

Science fiction is a narrative (usually in prose) or a short story, 'novella' or novel length. As to what it is about, is not easily classifiable. Such stories are about an amazing variety of things, topics and ideas. But in general these ideas are related to the field of science. The premodern science fiction were about journey to new lands, and some are also related to industrial revolution --- to the new developed machines --- which were to be more specific were not related to the electronics and quantum physics phase. This branch of science can be also called 'empirical science fiction', as imagination were based on the empirical science that was just able to develop some mechanical machines and complex bio-chemical drugs. This phase of science fiction includes, Mary Shelly's Frankenstein (1818), Joules Verne's Journey to the centre of the Earth (1864) and 2000 Leagues Under the Sea (1869). But towards the end part Victorian phase the scientific im