An Author's Blog

Hints About Writing a Story

Everyone is different and that means that everyone is going to need           to write a story in a different way. You have to discover how you           need to do it. There is no easy way. You can only discover how to           by doing it. These hints are to help you find your own way.        

               

Planning it?

               

Most teachers will tell you that you need to make a careful plan of           your story before you start. This is because most teachers do not           write stories. Professional writers divide into four different ways:

       

1. Those who do make a careful plan. These are the rarest.             Even writers who write detective stories often only have jotted             notes about what order the clues come out in. You do a careful plan             if it makes you feel safe. Otherwise try one of the other ways.
2. Careful realistic writers. These writers have little cards             written out with descriptions and past histories of all the people             they might want in the story, and the same for all the places. This             is quite a good way to work, because the story often falls into             place in your head while you are discovering the things on the             cards. But it takes a long time, though it can be fun. You will             often find you have far more information on the cards than you will             ever get into the story, and if this is so DON’T try to get it             all in. You will drown your story.
3. Back to front and inside out writers. These writers start by             writing Chapter Eleven and then Chapter Twenty. Sometimes they have             no idea what the story is and have to put the chapters away until             they see what the story is that they fit into. A writer called Joyce             Carey had a whole chest of drawers filled with chapters out of books             that he never got round to finishing. When he did write a book, it             always started this way. with a chapter from the middle. I sometimes             work this way, but I warn you, it takes a very clear head to sort it             out in the end. It is a good way to get started,             however.
4. My way. If you’re the kind of person who gets stuck writing             a story, try this. When I start writing a book, I know the beginning             and what probably happens in the end, plus a tiny but extremely             bright picture of something going on in the middle. Often this tiny             picture is so different from the beginning that I get really excited             trying to think how they got from the start to there. This is the             way to get a story moving, because I can’t wait to find out.             And by not planning it any more than that I leave space for the             story to go in unexpected ways. Sometimes things happen that I never             would have thought of, just because the story wants them             to happen.

               

The IMPORTANT THING is that you should ENJOY making up your story.           If it bores you, stop and try something else. Read the rest of the article here.

Six Figure income as a Writer

            Is it possible to make a six-figure income as a freelance writer? Yes, it certainly is. You can do it as a copywriter, a novelist, or a generalist writer who writes a little of             everything. (FWIW, I've always been a generalist.)             
            
            The September 2007 issue of The Writer published an excellent article: "Secrets of Six-Figure Freelancers", which covered magazine freelance writers who are making  six figures, with one making $260,000 per year. This proves that you can make a great income as any kind of freelance writer. The money is there: all you have to do is take it.             
            
            Fab Freelance Ezine helps you to understand the fast-changing world of the freelance writer, and sets  you well on the way to making the income that you want to make, and that many writers are already making.             

            A study done some years ago produced an amazing result: most freelance writers earn LESS than $5000 a year. These are writers who have a day job, and are  freelancing in their spare time.             
            
            Of course, some of these writers are happy with their writing, they're making a small amount, and writing is just a hobby to them.             
            
            However, I also know (because writers tell me) that some writers are not happy with the woeful money they're making, and wish they could earn more.             
            
They don't know how. Fab Freelance Writing Ezine teaches you how to avoid the hazards of freelance writing.                         

Freelance writing facts - what you need to know about freelance writing as a business:            

Fact 1: The money you make as a freelance writer is up to you. No one else sets your rates. You do.             
            
Fact 2: If you want to make a fabulous income as a freelance writer, you need to set a high income as a goal. In addition, you need to focus on those markets which are capable of generating this kind of income.             
            
Fact 3: You need to love writing enough to write a lot. Yes, I know that some would have you believe that you can write for an hour a day, or six hours a week, and make six figures - it's a lie. You need to work at it. But you knew that already, didn't you?             
            
Fact 4: You need to understand contracts and writing  agreements. Writing for money, whether you're writing articles, novels, copywriting for business, or any other kind of writing, is a business. The people who pay you are business people. This means that their aim is to generate a maximum profit from your words. Part of that profit-motive is paying you as little as you will accept.             

Find the article here.