Archive for December, 2008
If you know how to do something — and can do it well, almost without thinking — it makes sense that you’d want to share this information. What better way to do it than with an instruction manual. Writing an instruction manual may seem complicated and overwhelming, but it is easier than you think. The following tips will instruct you what to do and how to do it.
OUTLINE YOUR TOPIC
Before you can teach someone how to do something successfully, you need to conceptualize which aspects of the project they need to know. If your topic is complicated, such as how to play the piano, list each chapter and outline the points you need to make. If it’s simpler, such as the task of changing a tire, briefly jot down all the steps that come to mind. Don’t worry about the details or if you list the steps out of order; we will fix these things later.
START WITH THE SUPPLIES
The most logical way to start an instruction manual is to list the supplies the reader will need for the project. Be as exhaustive with this as possible; your students will thank you. If any of the supplies are expensive or difficult to find, list alternatives or stores that carry the item.
MOVE STEP BY STEP
Instead of explaining the task in long paragraphs, break your instruction manual into specific, detailed steps. Give as much direction as possible; if one step requires slightly different tasks, create sub-steps. Think of these as an outline; number or letter the steps accordingly (and logically).
DO THE PROJECT
If your instruction manual details a tangible project, then complete it using only your written guide. Don’t improvise and don’t go on your prior knowledge. If it’s difficult for you to do this (subjectivity is sometimes next to impossible to ignore), ask a friend to use your manual to complete the project. Look carefully at the finished product; did it turn out as you’d envisioned? Did you miss something important? Continue to revise and describe until your written words encompass every step in the most detailed and effective way possible.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Writing an instruction manual is different from writing literary fiction; creative wordiness isn’t important here — it’s clarity you’re after. Use short sentences and simple words. Make sure your manual is clear and readable; if the reader can’t understand what you’re saying, they won’t be able to complete your project.
Writing several articles at once might seem pretty much impossible to do if you are just starting to write Ezine articles and find producing them one at a time hard enough. However, writing articles in clusters is not difficult and, once you understand how it’s done, you will enjoy the benefits. A group of articles written as a cluster can easily be turned into a series but for now we are looking at the how to produce a group of unique articles written at the same time around a central topic.
Some of the main benefits are as follows:
1. Writing articles in groups saves time when you are researching your subject;
2. It gives you space to fully develop a theme;
3. It gives you more unique content for your blog or website;
4. It gives you extra articles to submit to ezines or to sell.
When you write an article for publication in ezines, you have to keep the word count within certain guidelines (about 500-800 words is usually most acceptable). If your article is too long, ezines might not be prepared to give up the space required to reproduce it. If the article is too short, there is a danger Ezine publishers won’t take it seriously. Cluster writing is definitely not about turning out a number of truncated Ezine articles instead of one full length one. Neither is it about stretching or padding your material (you’ll only ever get a poor fit if you try that). It is about making full use of ideas and not wasting time or words.
If you are writing about a topic you know well, you will find yourself constantly having to edit your articles to keep the word count down. Instead of throwing away the excess material, paste it immediately into another document with a new title. I would suggest keeping the titles similar - eg “Puppy Training, Why To Do It” and “Puppy Training, When To Start”, you can swiftly move on to “Puppy Training, The Best Methods” etc. Don’t let the document get too big, anytime your word processor reaches page 2, it’s time to think about breaking it into two.
As you write, be alert to any tendency to wander off topic. You might be writing about how it is one thing to have a cute puppy jump on your bed but quite a different experience when that pup has become a 10 stone hound with muddy paws. Suddenly you remember something about doggy vitamins. Instead of popping the idea into one of your puppy training articles as an aside, put it into another new document which you can later use as part of a new cluster about dog nutrition. With one quick “cut and paste” you have kept one article focussed on the main topic and saved an idea, which might otherwise have been wasted, for a new project.
If you are writing an article on an unfamiliar topic, you might think you won’t have the problem of needing to cut down your article and will have trouble finding enough to say. However, if you undertake proper research about the subject matter (as you should if you want your article to be taken seriously), you are bound to come across material which relates to the article you have planned but does not quite fit it. Make notes of all this related material. If you get ideas for further articles as you are researching, make a note of these ideas. Research for article writing takes time, so make the most of it. Even if you can only manage two articles on an unfamiliar subject, it is two for the price of one.
Let’s look at how to use just one passing idea as the basis for a group of articles. Take the thought “my first home business venture reminds me of Apollo 13″. To make this idea into an article, we have to say what is behind the initial thought. Otherwise, the reader will be left thinking “What, it nearly got lost in space?” or “You were trying to land on the moon?”. With no explanation or clarification, the idea is meaningless to anyone but you.
The thoughts behind the idea could be about a series of numerical coincidences in regard to events, about surviving near-disasters, about how duct tape solved a huge problem and about the power of prayer. With all these four things encapsulated in the idea, you have the basis of a four paragraph article. It does not require much of an imagination stretch to see that you could have the basis for four separate articles clustered around a central idea.
Never let an idea or a word go to waste. For the time and effort cluster writing saves, it is worth trying to use the technique even in the early days of your Ezine article writing career. Once you try it, you will realise it’s even better than “buy one get one free”.
Writing business letters is a forgotten art. The Internet has made us lazy writers. With a few keystrokes, we can kick off a short e-mail without thinking much about content, much less formatting. Have you ever reviewed your own e-mails and discovered misspellings, incomplete sentences, formatting mistakes, and grammatical errors? Usually we think nothing about how our lazy writing negatively affects our e-mails; other people e-mail us the same type of junk all the time. But, still, writing lousy e-mails should not give us the excuse to be lazy writers all the time, online or offline.
Writing business letters may be one of the best skills a business person can possess, especially during these times when few people possess it. The following tips will help you to construct better business letters. You can also adapt these principles to write better business e-mails, in terms of both format, style and tone.
COMPONENTS AND FORMATTING
All business letters are comprised of the following elements, in this order:
Date
Recipient’s name and address
Salutation
Opening paragraph
Body
Closing paragraph
Closing
Your name and address
The style of formatting will dictate how these elements are situated on the page. The three most common formatting styles are:
BLOCK: Each part of the letter is left-justified, and the text is single-spaced, except double-spaced paragraph breaks.
MODIFIED BLOCK: The opening, body and closing paragraphs are left-justified and single-spaced, but the date, closing and salutation are center-aligned.
SEMI-BLOCK: Exactly like modified block, except each paragraph is indented, not left-justified.
Regardless of which style you choose, you’ll also need to consider the font; your choice is important, as fancy fonts are sometimes unreadable. The most commonly used and widely accepted font is Times New Roman, size 12. It’s readable, professional, and universally used for business letters. It’s not outside the realm of possibility, however, to take liberties here; you can really use any readable font (Arial, Verdana, Helvetica), but always consider what your recipient would like to see.
OPENING PARAGRAPH
Since the principle point of your business letter is to grab and keep the reader’s attention, you’ll need to focus on the opening, the first (and sometimes only) opportunity you have to grab the recipient’s attention. The opening also sets the tone for the entire letter, so it must be as strong and characteristic as possible.
DO get straight to the point. Your recipient doesn’t need a bunch of unnecessary info., especially not right up front. If it doesn’t pertain to or bores them, they’ll just stop reading.
DON’T start with clich
There are really many factors to consider when writing a comic strip or a graphic novel. You have to decide on your writing style,drawing style,publishing woes,distribution etc…
It is never an easy ride.
Writing
The best way in this case is to find a partner and pool your talents together. Creating a graphic novel is rarely a one man show. Most importantly, as a WRITER, you must start honing your writing skills and let people critique your work. The more criticisms the better! Look for criticisms and embrace them for they will always spur you on and help you your skills. Do remember that you cannot please everyone.
Publishing
Where do you submit your work after you have completed your grand masterpiece? My website has the resources that shows where exactly to go and what to do.
Here are some useful tips on publishing.
Formatting. In what type of format must you submit your work? What if you have changes? How do you submit cover art, author photos and other information? What about ISBN numbers? You would have to decide on which platform you want to do your work from the very start.
Editing. Are the books edited or proofread and are there fees charged for editing or proofreading? What experience do they have? You might consider using the editing service or hiring a freelance editor to proof your work for you prior to publication. Editing is a must if you want to make sure your first graphic novel goes well.
Promotional Benefits. Does the publisher promote its authors? Does it contact the media for you? Does it have a media contact list or a mailing list where you can announce your book? How does the publisher feature its most recent releases? There is nothing wrong with this approach, but be sure you know what the company policies are so that you are not disappointed.
To read the rest of the guide, please visit my website.
Webmaster .TopGraphicNovelReviews.Com
Dec
28
There are a number of strategic reasons for using checklists, a writing format which helps you make your point(s) by writing at least some of your document in lists, rather than all in standard paragraphs. For example, checklists may convey the idea that you have carefully analyzed a situation, that a sequence should be followed, or that you are a well-organized person.
In this article, I have a follow-up, in which we look at the creation of checklists.
How you create your checklist will depend on its type. In some cases, you will want readers to follow a sequence of steps; this is a sequential checklist. On the other hand, if it’s just a list, like a shopping list, then it would be a non-sequential list.
If you write non-sequential checklists, use bullets or boxes to indicate a new line or new item, as in:
* something
* something else
* another thing again
One quick note about bullets: if you’re printing and distributing the message, then you can use conventional bullet forms (usually a square or round dot, whether solid or hollow). If you’re sending the message by email, use an asterisk because not all email programs handle bullets properly (something to do with ASCII characters).
If the steps must be taken in sequence, then you’ll use numbers or letters as your bullets. And, if that sequence has several sub-steps within each step, you would follow convention by using these types of characters, in this order:
* Roman numeral;
* Capital letter;
* Standard (Arabic) number;
* Lower case letter.
For example:
I The Beginning
A. The first part of the Beginning
1. The first part of the first part
a) and so on.
Indentations are helpful when working with highly structured checklists, like these. They show at a glance the importance of each component in the list.
A couple of other types of checklist might also be considered — flowcharts and mind-maps. A flow-chart means a series of boxes illustrating the linear steps in a process. These are especially helpful if the checklist includes decision points. For example, “If the computer starts, do this” or “If the computer DOES NOT start, do that.”
A mind-map refers to a number of boxes with interconnecting lines (not necessarily in a sequence, but perhaps showing interrelationships). In this case, the idea is to show how different aspects of the same issue connect with each other.
One final thought: outliners, whether stand-alone or in word processors can provide checklists, along with appropriate indentations. If the content fits the checklist format, an outliner may help you create one quickly and easily.
If you know how to do something — and can do it well, almost without thinking — it makes sense that you’d want to share this information. What better way to do it than with an instruction manual. Writing an instruction manual may seem complicated and overwhelming, but it is easier than you think. The following tips will instruct you what to do and how to do it.
OUTLINE YOUR TOPIC
Before you can teach someone how to do something successfully, you need to conceptualize which aspects of the project they need to know. If your topic is complicated, such as how to play the piano, list each chapter and outline the points you need to make. If it’s simpler, such as the task of changing a tire, briefly jot down all the steps that come to mind. Don’t worry about the details or if you list the steps out of order; we will fix these things later.
START WITH THE SUPPLIES
The most logical way to start an instruction manual is to list the supplies the reader will need for the project. Be as exhaustive with this as possible; your students will thank you. If any of the supplies are expensive or difficult to find, list alternatives or stores that carry the item.
MOVE STEP BY STEP
Instead of explaining the task in long paragraphs, break your instruction manual into specific, detailed steps. Give as much direction as possible; if one step requires slightly different tasks, create sub-steps. Think of these as an outline; number or letter the steps accordingly (and logically).
DO THE PROJECT
If your instruction manual details a tangible project, then complete it using only your written guide. Don’t improvise and don’t go on your prior knowledge. If it’s difficult for you to do this (subjectivity is sometimes next to impossible to ignore), ask a friend to use your manual to complete the project. Look carefully at the finished product; did it turn out as you’d envisioned? Did you miss something important? Continue to revise and describe until your written words encompass every step in the most detailed and effective way possible.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Writing an instruction manual is different from writing literary fiction; creative wordiness isn’t important here — it’s clarity you’re after. Use short sentences and simple words. Make sure your manual is clear and readable; if the reader can’t understand what you’re saying, they won’t be able to complete your project.
It’s no surprise that your headline is crucial to the success of your article. It’s the first thing your reader will see, and it has to do many things, including getting your reader’s attention, drawing them into your article and encouraging them to read more, and summarizing what the article is about - and you’ve only got about 15 words in which to do it. This article will explain how you can avoid leaving it to chance.
There are some basic considerations when writing your headline. Who is your reader? What are the important features of your product or service? Lastly, why would your reader want to buy your product or service &ndash what benefit will reading your article offer your reader?
For maximum readership, write your headline as if you were creating short, curiosity-arousing teaser copy on an outer envelope. Compel your reader to read further without being so blatant in your headline that it turns them off.
Here are ten ways to produce effective headlines all the while taking into consideration your answers to the earlier three questions: who is your reader, what are the important features of your product or service and what benefit does reading your article provide?
1. State a benefit, something like “Learn how to potty train your dog in 3 easy steps.”
2. Use words that help the reader visualize, such as “Keep your socks dry. Eliminate doggy carpet puddles, and wet socks, in 3 easy steps.”
3. Highlight your offer in your headline. “Learn how to create an award winning aquarium.”
4. Use numbers and statistics.
5. Make it newsworthy using words like: new, introducing, or announcing.
6. Make a promise or guarantee.
7. Make a big promise. This is used a lot &ndash Lose 20 pounds in 20 days.
8. Use a reasons why headline. “10 reasons why you’re losing money in the stock market.”
9. Anticipate and address your prospect’s fears.
10. Pique their curiosity.
There are of course many ways to produce a good, attention getting headline. Psychologists and skilled copywriters will both tell you that people don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional ones. Fear, greed, curiosity, benevolence, jealousy, lust, insecurity, pride, and frustration are among some of the effective emotions copy writers tap into.
The same holds true for article headlines. If you can provide a headline that appeals to their emotions, not only will you have more people eagerly reading your article, you’ll have more websites, blogs, and newsletters printing and linking to your article.
When writing your headline, it is often useful to write several headlines and choose the most effective or to write your copy first and let your copy dictate the headline. Regardless of how you proceed, experience and reading other eye catching headlines will help you explore the process.
Visit an article directory and take a look at the articles that catch your eye. Browse through the articles with the most readership and examine the differ net headline styles. This exercise will help you create article headlines that generate the same readership numbers. The end result, more traffic and visibility for your website.
Writing business letters is a forgotten art. The Internet has made us lazy writers. With a few keystrokes, we can kick off a short e-mail without thinking much about content, much less formatting. Have you ever reviewed your own e-mails and discovered misspellings, incomplete sentences, formatting mistakes, and grammatical errors? Usually we think nothing about how our lazy writing negatively affects our e-mails; other people e-mail us the same type of junk all the time. But, still, writing lousy e-mails should not give us the excuse to be lazy writers all the time, online or offline.
Writing business letters may be one of the best skills a business person can possess, especially during these times when few people possess it. The following tips will help you to construct better business letters. You can also adapt these principles to write better business e-mails, in terms of both format, style and tone.
COMPONENTS AND FORMATTING
All business letters are comprised of the following elements, in this order:
Date
Recipient’s name and address
Salutation
Opening paragraph
Body
Closing paragraph
Closing
Your name and address
The style of formatting will dictate how these elements are situated on the page. The three most common formatting styles are:
BLOCK: Each part of the letter is left-justified, and the text is single-spaced, except double-spaced paragraph breaks.
MODIFIED BLOCK: The opening, body and closing paragraphs are left-justified and single-spaced, but the date, closing and salutation are center-aligned.
SEMI-BLOCK: Exactly like modified block, except each paragraph is indented, not left-justified.
Regardless of which style you choose, you’ll also need to consider the font; your choice is important, as fancy fonts are sometimes unreadable. The most commonly used and widely accepted font is Times New Roman, size 12. It’s readable, professional, and universally used for business letters. It’s not outside the realm of possibility, however, to take liberties here; you can really use any readable font (Arial, Verdana, Helvetica), but always consider what your recipient would like to see.
OPENING PARAGRAPH
Since the principle point of your business letter is to grab and keep the reader’s attention, you’ll need to focus on the opening, the first (and sometimes only) opportunity you have to grab the recipient’s attention. The opening also sets the tone for the entire letter, so it must be as strong and characteristic as possible.
DO get straight to the point. Your recipient doesn’t need a bunch of unnecessary info., especially not right up front. If it doesn’t pertain to or bores them, they’ll just stop reading.
DON’T start with clich
There are really many factors to consider when writing a comic strip or a graphic novel. You have to decide on your writing style,drawing style,publishing woes,distribution etc…
It is never an easy ride.
Writing
The best way in this case is to find a partner and pool your talents together. Creating a graphic novel is rarely a one man show. Most importantly, as a WRITER, you must start honing your writing skills and let people critique your work. The more criticisms the better! Look for criticisms and embrace them for they will always spur you on and help you your skills. Do remember that you cannot please everyone.
Publishing
Where do you submit your work after you have completed your grand masterpiece? My website has the resources that shows where exactly to go and what to do.
Here are some useful tips on publishing.
Formatting. In what type of format must you submit your work? What if you have changes? How do you submit cover art, author photos and other information? What about ISBN numbers? You would have to decide on which platform you want to do your work from the very start.
Editing. Are the books edited or proofread and are there fees charged for editing or proofreading? What experience do they have? You might consider using the editing service or hiring a freelance editor to proof your work for you prior to publication. Editing is a must if you want to make sure your first graphic novel goes well.
Promotional Benefits. Does the publisher promote its authors? Does it contact the media for you? Does it have a media contact list or a mailing list where you can announce your book? How does the publisher feature its most recent releases? There is nothing wrong with this approach, but be sure you know what the company policies are so that you are not disappointed.
To read the rest of the guide, please visit my website.
Webmaster .TopGraphicNovelReviews.Com
It’s no surprise that your headline is crucial to the success of your article. It’s the first thing your reader will see, and it has to do many things, including getting your reader’s attention, drawing them into your article and encouraging them to read more, and summarizing what the article is about - and you’ve only got about 15 words in which to do it. This article will explain how you can avoid leaving it to chance.
There are some basic considerations when writing your headline. Who is your reader? What are the important features of your product or service? Lastly, why would your reader want to buy your product or service &ndash what benefit will reading your article offer your reader?
For maximum readership, write your headline as if you were creating short, curiosity-arousing teaser copy on an outer envelope. Compel your reader to read further without being so blatant in your headline that it turns them off.
Here are ten ways to produce effective headlines all the while taking into consideration your answers to the earlier three questions: who is your reader, what are the important features of your product or service and what benefit does reading your article provide?
1. State a benefit, something like “Learn how to potty train your dog in 3 easy steps.”
2. Use words that help the reader visualize, such as “Keep your socks dry. Eliminate doggy carpet puddles, and wet socks, in 3 easy steps.”
3. Highlight your offer in your headline. “Learn how to create an award winning aquarium.”
4. Use numbers and statistics.
5. Make it newsworthy using words like: new, introducing, or announcing.
6. Make a promise or guarantee.
7. Make a big promise. This is used a lot &ndash Lose 20 pounds in 20 days.
8. Use a reasons why headline. “10 reasons why you’re losing money in the stock market.”
9. Anticipate and address your prospect’s fears.
10. Pique their curiosity.
There are of course many ways to produce a good, attention getting headline. Psychologists and skilled copywriters will both tell you that people don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional ones. Fear, greed, curiosity, benevolence, jealousy, lust, insecurity, pride, and frustration are among some of the effective emotions copy writers tap into.
The same holds true for article headlines. If you can provide a headline that appeals to their emotions, not only will you have more people eagerly reading your article, you’ll have more websites, blogs, and newsletters printing and linking to your article.
When writing your headline, it is often useful to write several headlines and choose the most effective or to write your copy first and let your copy dictate the headline. Regardless of how you proceed, experience and reading other eye catching headlines will help you explore the process.
Visit an article directory and take a look at the articles that catch your eye. Browse through the articles with the most readership and examine the differ net headline styles. This exercise will help you create article headlines that generate the same readership numbers. The end result, more traffic and visibility for your website.