Don't Worry, Be Happy, AND WRITE!

How To Break Into Writing For Newspapers
Besides waking up with a morning coffee, millions of us wake every day to blaring newspaper headlines about police gunning down a suspect, or a fire that .....

How long should my story be' Who should I send it to' What do I put in the cover letter'I don't have any credits, what now' Do these questions go through your mind as you sit down to write a story' If so, then read on.
As the former Grand Poobah of the Science Fiction Forum at Inkspot, I dealt with many new, and not so new, writers. The questions they asked have revealed a common thread among them, fear. If you're one of these writers, let me give you a word of advice. Relax!

First of all, don't concern yourself about submission guidelines, story length, chapter length, precise genre typing of your story and all the other technical stuff. Especially if you haven't even started writing your story. Until your story is finished, these questions, and other related topics, are basically irrelevant. Just write your story. Stories take on a life of their own and create their own length and flow.

Need To Write An Article' 'Three' Is A Magic Number!
Writing articles for magazines, the Internet or the local community paper needn't be a headache. Providing they are informative, reasonably short and to the point, readers and publishers will welcome .....

After writing, edit without mercy. Make each word count. Be sure your scenes and characters are clear, alive and interesting. Include at least one conflict, and have that conflict resolved by the end of the story.

When your story is done, that's when you research markets and follow their guidelines. Even guidelines have some flexibility. Word count can be a "little" above or below what they say. If your word count is well above what they state, query the publication to see if they ever serialize stories. After your research is done, mail off your manuscript and forget about it. Focus on the new story your working on. You're working on a new story aren't you'

Resume Writing
Resume writing is an art. You will have to master this art in order to land up with a plum job. Your resume must be your unique masterpiece. Resume writing has .....

If your story is rejected, just file the rejection letter, or throw it away, and submit the manuscript to the next publication on your list. Don't take the rejection personally, because it's not. There are more reasons for rejection than I can count. The publication is full, a story like yours was just published or will soon be published, for some personal reason the publisher didn't like it, your name is similar to the name of someone the publisher doesn't like, he read a story like yours a year ago and didn't like it and so on. But don't let this discourage you. If your story is good, and you know it is, it will be published. Your job as a writer is not to sweat the details, but to write and get published. Stay focused on the story, and don't confuse writing with the research you must do to be published.

So You Want To Write A Non-Fiction Book?
Have you ever thought about writing a non-fiction book' A book with your name on it can inform people on a topic while it enhances your career and provides a nice source of supplemental income.

Published works earn you the respect of co-workers, .....

So focus on the joy of writing, do the job of submitting and have fun.

Following are some common questions, and their answers.

Q: What font should I use'
A: Use Times New Roman set at 12 point.

5 Types Of Article You Can Write
If you always write the same type of article then you are probably limiting your chances of getting published. Look at your favorite publications and you will see they print a variety of types of article. Here are five of the .....

Q: How long should a manuscript be'
A: This varies according to each publisher, but here is a pretty accurate guideline.
Short story - up to 7,000 words
Novelette or Novella - 7,000 to 15,000 words
Novel - over 15,000 words
Graphic novel - 40 or more pages

The Poetry Contest That Hunts For Desperate Writers
Many of you have likely seen the following contest 'Free Amateur Poetry Contest $10,000 grand prize, Enter Now!', and you have most likely sent off your poem and received a letter back stating that your poem will be .....

Book outline - 5 to 15 double spaced pages

Q: What is a publications response time'
A: You can find this in each publication's, or publisher's, guidelines. I usually add a month before sending them a follow-up letter.

Q: What should I have in a follow-up letter'
A: Keep it simple. I just say this, "On (date) I sent a (manuscript or article) to you titled (title). Would you please update me as to the status of my (manuscript or article)'
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
(your name)

Q: How do I ......

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