Free Writing Center

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Children’s Books

Writing children’s books requires authors to understand children. If the story grabs the attention of the children it is written for, it will also grab the attention of the publisher. Publishers know what will interest children—they have a lot of experience with this.
You need to write for the correct audience and keep this audience in [...]

How to Publish a Book [Editor's Tips]

As I have found out over the years, trying to get your book published is damn hard, and it isn’t getting any easier. There’s too many wannabe writers that want to know how to publish a book, and not enough editors to read all the submissions, which means that there is a real risk [...]

Avoid Burnout as an Online Writer - Choose Jobs Wisely

Along with the plethora of new opportunities that are available throughout the Online Content industry, there is the issue of too much work and not enough time. If you’re anything like me and you hate passing up good income-generating opportunities, it can be hard to say no.
The Schedule of an Online Writer
Making an income from [...]

How to Write Your First Nonfiction Book

If you’ve ever considered writing your own nonfiction book, this video of a talk offered by Dan Poynter is one that you must watch. Dan is the owner of Para Publishing. He started Para Publishing in 1969 in North Quincy, Massachusetts in order to publish his own non fiction books on parachute design safety and [...]

A Stephen King Interview and Commentary on Stephenie Meyer

This week, I’d like to share a great video interview with one of my favorite writers of all time - Stephen King. Mr. King was born and raised in my home state, and he has always served as an inspiration for young Maine writers. In this interview, Borders interviews Stephen King on writing short stories, [...]

Best Online Resources for Resume Writing Examples

August 30th, 2010 No Comments

resume writing examples If there is one thing you should do well, without any errors, it is the resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV). You only get one shot to impress an employer and if the resume / CV is not up to scratch, then your chances of getting that job are as good as the Vatican bringing out their own line of birth control accessories.

So it pays to take a considerable amount of time writing your resume, tweaking it and then tweaking it some more. When you walk into that job interview, your resume / CV must be an absolute masterpiece that William Shakespeare himself would be proud of.

As with all other subjects, the Internet is a vast source of advice on how to write that perfect resume / CV. Some good and some bad. Here are two of the good ones you should consider using.

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What to Look For in a Quality Writing Service

August 29th, 2010 2 Comments

quality writing service A lot of people set up blogs with the best of intentions but after a while, it just becomes far too hard.

It becomes too hard to write consistent quality posts and also too hard to maintain a regular writing schedule (especially if you have a day job). But if they are relying on the blog’s advertising to bring in some money, they may be reluctant to close down the site. That may be where a quality writing service comes in handy.

A writing service is someone who offers you articles for a fee. They will listen to your requests and them come up with an article that closely resembles what you asked for. There are many of these services all over the net, many credible but many not, but you have to check off certain criteria before parting with your hard earned cash.

As the editor of a well established blog, and someone who hires and fires writers on a regular basis, here are four things that I would look for when considering whether or not to employ a writer.

1. Make sure you hold exclusive copyright – A lot of these writing services rely on getting articles out quickly to maximise their profit. This means that if two parties ask for the same subject, the writing service may just be tempted to sell the exact same article to both parties. This is bad because a) both sites will end up publishing duplicate content which affects your reputation as readers realise you didn’t write the post yourself and b) you end up losing any search engine benefits for your post because of duplicate content issues. So try and get a promise out of the writing service that you and only you will have that article and at no point will the article be sold to someone else. Of course there is nothing you can do if they break their word. If they do, don’t ever use them again and make sure others know about your experiences.
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5 Ways That a Writer Can Successfully Work From Home Online

August 27th, 2010 2 Comments

work from home ideas One of the most successful careers available, if you want to work from home, is becoming a freelance writer. All you need is a computer with Internet access, a desk and a chair, and bingo, you have it in you to become the next Ernest Hemingway.

But while you’re waiting for that big publishing deal to come through, you can pay your bills by taking on other forms of writing work, which may be less interesting but still brings in cold hard cash to put food on the table and pay for your Internet connection. Plus, it fattens up your resume a bit, which is always a good thing.

Here are some work from home ideas that you can do to keep your writing skills sharpened and your bank account looking rosy.

1. Write for blogs – When you read your favourite sites in the morning, do you ever ponder for a moment how those blogs are written and put together? No, the words didn’t magically fly onto the page - they were written by a hard working team of writers – and that writing team may have an open vacancy that could be just perfect for you. So go to your favourite sites, find a “contact us” or “write for us” link and see if anything is available. Or advertise on your Twitter stream or Facebook account that you are looking for work. Someone somewhere may see it and offer you something.
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4 Important Things to Remember When Writing Poetry

August 26th, 2010 No Comments

Writing poetry is a pure and personal way to satisfy creative urges. No one can say that a person’s poem is written in the “wrong” way, but there are a few tips that could help one to write stronger poetry.

Many people write poetry for themselves and not for a greater audience, in which case the following suggestions may not matter. However, for those who would like to write stronger poems, these four writing poetry tips may be kept in mind.

1. Grammar and Punctuation: Grammar and punctuation do not have to be followed as closely as in other modes of writing—much freedom is allowed in poetry. Also, poems can consist of stanzas, or not (like paragraphs, but not indented). While the rules are not strict, one must be consistent. The number of lines in each stanza, capitalizing lines (or not), rhyming (or not) should be uniform throughout.

Example:

“The free bird leaps
on the back of the win
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.”

-From: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
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How to Publish a Book [Editor's Tips]

August 25th, 2010 No Comments

glasses21 As I have found out over the years, trying to get your book published is damn hard, and it isn’t getting any easier. There’s too many wannabe writers that want to know how to publish a book, and not enough editors to read all the submissions, which means that there is a real risk that the next JK Rowling is slipping through the cracks.

However, a lot of people get rejected simply because they are not following established rules, which guarantees that your manuscript is heading on a one way journey to the “slush pile”. Here are 3 ways to stop that :

1. Don’t write the whole book – This one is a real source of contention among both established authors and wannabe authors about how to publish a book. Some say to never approach a publisher until you have a completed manuscript while others advocate writing only a few chapters first to “test the waters”.

As someone who is friends with a successful author, and as someone who has been doing the whole manuscript submission routine myself, I would say the best approach is to write the first five chapters and then also provide a synopsis of where the book will be heading after that. A lot of publishers will be happy with that, and will make a decision based on the first five chapters and the synopsis.

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Create a Mobile Version of Your Blog

August 22nd, 2010 No Comments

This weekend, as I was searching for a cool article to write for MakeUseOf, I came across a very cool free service that you can use to quickly offer a mobile version of your blog for absolutely free.

The trend of the Internet is quickly going mobile - everyone is checking Facebook, email and their blogs from mobile phones. The best way to access this growing audience is by offering your blog content in mobile format.

The solution I found is called WINKsite. I’ll be covering the setup and doing a review of this service on MakeUseOf in a few weeks from now, but suffice to say the service only took me about 20 minutes to set up the way that I wanted.

The cool thing about this service is that there are so many freebies. You an create all sorts of channels on your mobile site where you can offer content like surveys, forums, and even a chat room. Enable or disable advertising if you like - it’s completely up to you!

The only catch is that the free service limits you to having 5 mobile blogs. However, if you only have one blog or website that you want to “mobilize” - then this really isn’t a limited service at all. As you can see in the image here, the layout is perfect for a mobile phone. All topics are listed top to bottom as clickable links. The layout was created with every mobile user in mind - anyone from the most advanced PDA owners to mobile users who own cheapo phones with web access. Everyone can see your content when you use this service.

I highly recommend WINKsite, especially if you don’t have the skills and/or the time to code your own mobile feed. Just sign up for this service, enable it to publish the feed from your regular blog, and then you never have to think about it again - you’re automatically submitting content to your mobile site every time you click “submit” on your regular blog. Simple - just the way it should be.

5 Steps to Writing a Research Paper for a College Class

August 22nd, 2010 No Comments

When assigned a research paper in a college class, like one from online universities, one may feel as if it is a daunting task. There are many steps to writing a research paper, but five stand out as being of the utmost importance. Once one knows the topic, expected length and due date, he must buckle down and follow these steps to accomplish the task of writing a research paper!

Step 1 - Write an Outline

The first step to take is to write a detailed outline of how the paper will be set up and what information is needed to back up statements and generalizations. The beginning, middle and end of the paper will be established in the outline and that will keep the writer on track throughout the rest of the process. Writing the outline will also aide in focusing one’s attention on what is truly important.
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3 Ways Bloggers Prove to Readers That They Are Idiots

August 21st, 2010 No Comments

businessman There are so many blogs out there on the Internet (with even more being set up each day) that it is absolutely essential to get that thing called “professionalism” firmly nailed down. Lose it and people will never believe a word you say ever again. Lose it and you will probably never get it back again.

The ironic thing is that it is not difficult at all to get things right but people just don’t do it, perhaps because of laziness or because of a perceived need to rush out posts to beat the competition. But if you take an extra couple of minutes before hitting that “publish” button, your reputation to the readers will rise monumentally.

Here are the top three things to remember.

1. Check your grammar - The most important one of all. How can you expect anyone to take you seriously if you can’t even spell and write your own language properly? If you are serious about blogging, buy a good dictionary and a style book and keep them on the desk beside you at all times. Or use an online dictionary such as Dictionary.com

2. Check your facts – Print newspaper journalists can be sued for libel if they get their facts wrong and bloggers are no different. Don’t believe for a second that bloggers can say whatever they want and get away with it. If you defame someone online, you will be held legally accountable for it and suffer the consequences that come with that. So check your facts – then check them again. You can never do this often enough.

3. Format your posts properly – Not only do your posts have to be well written and free of spelling mistakes, they also have to be pleasant viewing to the eyes. When someone visits your post, they have to be interested and impressed enough to want to read it, comment on it and share it with others. They won’t do that if the Facebook post is humping the Twitter box and the post image is slapped on top of the text.

5 Useful Websites With Writing Prompts For Kids

August 20th, 2010 No Comments

As a teacher or homeschooling parent, one may find it difficult to constantly come up with new and interesting writing prompts for kids. Writing prompts are helpful to students for journal writing, creative writing, or for learning to write in new genres.

Top 5 Websites With Writing Prompts for Kids

It’s actually not an easy task to find good websites that offer writing prompts for kids. Hopefully this list will cut down the amount of digging an educator must do.

1. Abcteach
These writing prompts are great because they are available for you to print as a writing activity with illustrations and places for your student to draw pictures. They are perfect for homeschooling and the classroom. Some examples of this website’s offerings are: Emotions journal, “My Wish for Peace” and “Fiction: A Rainy Day.”

2. Theteacherscorner
Daily writing prompts are available for each month on this website. These ideas are very imaginative and original. They are great for elementary level children. Some of the prompts include: “September is National Apple Month. There are a variety of different apples and they all have their own, unique taste.

Write about one of the following: What is your favorite apple variety and how do you like to eat it? OR Create a new dish using your favorite variety of apple.” and “On this day in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. This was a brave action by Parks. What is the bravest thing you have ever done? Be sure to include details about the event and why you think you were brave.” As you can see, there is a wide range of topics available.
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Top 5 Most Common Writing Mistakes

August 19th, 2010 No Comments

onfloor As noted in their “20 Most Common Errors,” found on EasyWriter (Bedford St. Martins) and the FAME website, the following are the top 5.

Along with being the most common mistakes, they are also among the easiest mistakes to catch as you are editing your work. Remember, the best way to correct your own writing is to read it aloud.

5 Most Common Writing Mistakes

1. Missing comma after an introductory element: A missing comma after an introductory element can be heard as a pause as you are reading a sentence. For instance, read this sentence aloud and you will hear this element in structure.

2. Vague pronoun reference: A vague pronoun reference will leave the reader confused as to who is being discussed. For example, “The boy and the man fished as he drove the boat.”—who, exactly, is he?

3. Missing comma in a compound sentence (using and, but, so, yet, nor, or for): You want to be sure not to miss the comma separating the two (or more) separate ideas in a compound sentence. These parts of the sentence are joined by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, so, yet, or, nor or for).

4. Wrong word (using homonyms, words that sound alike, or words with a wrong meaning): Using a wrong word in a sentence may be hard to catch because the two words sound the same. For instance, “The girls put there letters in the mailbox.” There sounds right, but the correct word is actually their. Correcting this mistake takes a very close eye.

5. Missing comma(s) with a nonrestrictive element: Missing comma(s) with a nonrestrictive element can be caught as you are reading a sentence aloud. A nonrestrictive element is part of a sentence that is not necessary to its meaning. In the sentence, “The dog, who was very friendly, sat and waited for his dinner,” the nonrestrictive element tells us more about the dog.

For more common writing mistakes and explanations, visit the following websites:
http://www.oln.org/ILT/ada/Fame/cw/f4_48_463.html
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/easywriter3e/20errors/