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Earn While You Burn - Travel Writing Tips
I'm often asked if travel writing is a lucrative market for freelance writers. Let's face it - the idea of getting paid to sit on the beach, sip on drinks with umbrellas in them, and work on your tan appeals to us all.
I don't know how lucrative...
The Writing Club
Typically when falling asleep in bed at night great thoughts enter the mind, long stringed and meaningful sentences trip over each other to receive attention at the front of the brain alongside all the brilliant findings, results, meanings that...
Web Copywriting for International Markets
So your website is beautifully written, the keywords are all in
place and everything seems just fine. But hang on, half or more
of potential customers will probably never find you - and many
of those that do could find your web copywriting...
Where to Find Writing Jobs Online
A freelance writer’s best resource of finding jobs online are Job boards or sites. While some boards are geared specifically to the freelancer, many others also list other type of jobs. Some job boards allow freelancers to register their...
WRITING FOR THE WEB
Writing is writing, right? Well, yes and no. Certainly there are requirements common to all writing. Correct spelling, for example. But the requirements vary according to the task. In writing a story, such things as sustaining suspense and pace...
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Writing a book - tips from an author #3
Concluding a three act story. The final or third part of a three
act story is the conclusion. You have to tie up all the loose
ends here, or your readers will remain unsatisfied. Don't ever
rely on 'hope' that the reader will have 'forgotten' your
subplot involving a giant city-eating space weasel that surfaced
200 pages before. The reader WILL remember, and WILL expect you
to explain how the weasel was defeated! Above all, the last act
is the place for the final, crucial conflict. Typically,
everything gained so far looks to be in great danger of being
lost by a single, small act - an example would be Lord of the
Rings. It could be argued that the Mount Doom scene is actually
the climax of the book - and the incredible effort shown by
Frodo in making it this far suddenly appears to be wasted, as he
decides to keep the ring. You have a chance here to reveal
something important about your characters - in the case of
Frodo, it is that there are limits even to his willpower.
Whatever you reveal may have been foreshadowed already - Frodo
put the ring on once before, when under immense pressure, so his
final failing isn't completely out of the blue. The resolution
can therefore be even more surprising - back to LOTR, and
Gollum's role has definitely been foreshadowed. Sure enough, he
ends up saving the world, against all the odds, yet entirely
believably. This is where the www.GetPlotted.com
'scratchpad' online idea storage comes in handy. You can make a
list of 'to do' things that need to be tied up at the end. Check
them off as you do them, and there won;t be any loose ends.
Be wary of using randomness in your stories. In other words,
although you are the creator of your literary world, and can do
anything you like, don't write things that appear 'arbitrary' to
your readers. The
great novels of all ages are marked out by the
consistency of the worlds they create - randomness doesn't play
a part. The Frank Herbert 'Dune' novels, for example, stand tall
as masterpieces of logical progression from start to finish. Why
is the dry, barren world of Dune so valuable? Because it is home
to 'sandworms'. Why are sandworms important? Because they
produce 'spice' as a waste product. Why is 'spice' so important?
Because it enables starflight. And so on. Don't be tempted to
use phrases or ideas just because you think they 'sound good'.
Use them because they help to create a consistent jigsaw of
interlocking ideas and themes. And while we are on it, be
consistent. Keep an eye on the tone, style etc of your work.
Don't jump around from thriller to comedy or first person to
third person if you want success in your writing.
Most genres have a definite and accepted style, or set of
conventions. If you break those conventions without very good
reasons, you run a real risk of alienating your reader. Gangster
novels, for example. Extreme power brings extreme corruption, so
if you want your Mafioso to be a kind, God-fearing gentleman
into flower-arranging, you need a good reason for it. If you
stick to these basic rules, you should be able to create a
convincing and interesting internal world in the mind of your
reader, which is basically what it's all about! The plot
generators at www.GetPlotted.com are a
good way to create an outline - whatever the genre, the outline
will be internally consistent, so you won't create the skeleton
of a novel that has any major flaws.
About the author:
Copyright www.GetPlotted.com. You may
reproduce this article as long as you do so in its entirity, and
preserve working links.
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