Random Writing Articles http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us How Classes Can Benefit Students in Different Ways http://www.articletrader.com/writing/how-classes-can-benefit-students-in-different-ways.html http://www.articletrader.com/writing/how-classes-can-benefit-students-in-different-ways.html Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Practicality can come in many forms. A class can benefit a student because it fulfills a requirement for a major or minor, or because it satisfies an elective demand of an arbitrarily insistent university. There is always that. A class can be also be a benefit by being really easy, or being somewhat challenging.
A really easy class can be good because it lets you bring up your GPA without, in many instances, having to even attend the lecture all that often. Introductory classes in every discipline are often conducted from a commanding lecture podium and overhead projector in a very large, stadium shaped room. Obviously, if you are fairly intelligent, you can coast off the book and just show up for the midterm and final. If you use this strategy, however, I do advise that you attend at least some of the TA sessions, where much of the nuts and bolts work of comprehending material comes in. You may not even need a supplement to the course text to know what’s going on, but TA sessions are also often where they hand out the assignments. If your knowledge of the subject has any weak spots, be sure to ask your TA for help as he/she will appreciate explaining something that is basic for them. TA’s are also often nervous in front of these classes, as many of them are just dedicated graduate students that are not cut out for the flair of public speaking. You can help set their mind at ease by moving the session along with a good question or two.
A moderately challenging class can be of benefit, obviously, by increasing your capacity for study and concentration. Moreover, a class that expands your horizons can look good on a transcript or even be a talking point in a job interview, when it comes time to ask that question: ‘so, what have you done in your life that you weren’t exactly the best at? How did you do?’


--
This article was written by the Editor in Chief at www.Goodtermpaper.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> Building Better Paragraphs http://www.articletrader.com/writing/building-better-paragraphs.html http://www.articletrader.com/writing/building-better-paragraphs.html Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600

1. Basic Paragraph Components



Let's think about the two basic components of all paragraphs and then examine how we may use them for effective writing.



a. The idea: One paragraph = one central idea. Has someone ever said to you, "Hey, you've got a good point there"? Well, that's what your paragraph does. It makes a point, one point, which is the central idea of the paragraph. You might think of it as the purpose for the paragraph. That one point of a paragraph may be supported by several other ideas, and the paragraph, itself, may be written to support a broader idea, but its purpose remains the same. It stands alone as the vehicle to express one complete idea to the reader.



b. The support: Paragraphs must have both external and internal support for the central idea. External support means the way the central idea of the paragraph connects to the ideas prior to and following the paragraph. (This is called external support because it provides a reason for the central idea to be expressed.) Another way to describe what we mean by "external support" is the way you link the paragraph to its context. Internal support is how the content within a paragraph connects to its central idea. As an analogy, think about branches on a tree. The central idea is the branch. The external support is the main trunk, and the internal support is the leaves that grow from the branch.



If you extend this analogy a bit, you see how branches (i.e., ideas) are connected to each other. Some paragraphs are quite long because, for the purpose of this analogy, the author chose a big branch that has smaller branches growing from it. Some are quite short because the author chose the smallest identifiable branch. In both cases, however, the paragraph has internal and external support.



Since this article is about what happens inside paragraphs, we'll make the assumption that the idea is clear and focus on the support--what happens inside a paragraph. How do you make those internal and external supports work to express the idea?



2. General Paragraph Structure



Perhaps you had an English teacher tell you that a paragraph must have a thesis statement at the beginning. This is partially true. Your thesis statement is the point you are trying to communicate, but you have a couple of choices about its placement: beginning and end. You can start with the central idea and then build the internal and external supports, or you can provide the supports and then make your point. With all respect for English teachers, we have a strong preference for the second method because it mimics the way people think.



By making your point towards the end of the paragraph, you are leading your reader through ideas to arrive at the conclusion. Also, with the point at the end, you can most effectively organize your external and internal supports. However, expressing the main point at the beginning is also valid in some cases. With this method, you are telling the reader, "Here's the point, and now I'll explain it." Basically, you have to determine which method will work best for a particular paragraph. As our preference is for the second method, though, we will focus on that.



3. Detailed Structure



a. The beginning of the paragraph: The first couple sentences in a paragraph establish your external support. The external support ties the paragraph to the context in which the paragraph is placed. You're telling the reader, "Here's how this paragraph connects to what was just written." It should follow naturally from (i.e., connect to) the end of the prior paragraph, which serves as a transition between ideas. Without this external support, you don't have a good transition from the prior paragraph, you need to strength the connection, or the paragraph is out of place entirely. (This is one of the hardest parts of writing to master, and, for those who are writing academic papers, one that is very commonly criticized by teachers and professors.) Once you have established your external support, you need to think about the topics that will be discussed internally.



The first couple of sentences tell the reader, "Here's what this paragraph will discuss." Using the analogy above, you present the leaves. These topics should lead the reader to the point of the paragraph. If they don't, save them for a different paragraph. We do not recommend writing anything that resembles a list. Subtlety is better. In fact, these topics may only be recognized by reading the entire paragraph.



b. The body of the paragraph: Once you have established your external support and your internal topics, you expand on those topics. The main purpose here is to show how these topics support the central idea. Each topic creates a pathway to the point, the destination. With this perspective, you will realize how each topic starts at or near the beginning of the paragraph and continues to the end. They are not presented sequentially; instead, they are discussed simultaneously. You should be able to identify particular words and phrases throughout the paragraph that relate to each topic, making a chain from beginning to end. This chain helps the entire paragraph be more purposeful, coherent, and graceful--as well as economical and effective.



c. The end of the paragraph: "Holy Moley!" you might be thinking by now. "When do we actually get to make our point?" The answer is "Now." If you have done all the above, you're ready to make your point, to present the reader with the central idea that you want to express. And if you have done it well, your main point should make logical sense to the reader. Because you have kept your central idea in mind throughout, the conclusion of your paragraph should naturally and logically tie together all that you have written so far. You might only need one sentence to expressing your central idea. We follow a two-sentence rule: If you need more than two sentences to express the central idea, revise and simplify. If you still can't do it, then you might need to break your idea into smaller parts and write additional paragraphs. And this brings us to the last element of the paragraph--setting the stage for the next paragraph.



As you recall from the discussion above on external support, paragraphs need to connect to prior and following paragraphs. Thus, when you get to the final sentences of one paragraph, you need to have a clear idea about where you're going next. What is the idea that logically follows what you have just written? At the end of one paragraph, you provide the reader with an indication of what's next. This is the basis for the transition between ideas, which is the same as the transition between paragraphs. This paragraph is now done, and you're ready to start the next.



4. Summary of Everything Above



Because we covered a lot of ground above, we're going to provide a quick and dirty summary of what we've written so far.

a. Paragraphs need internal and external supports.

b. Each paragraph should have one, and only one, central idea.

c. The central idea is supported by one or more topic chains.

d. Your "point sentence(s)" should tie the entire paragraph together as a logical conclusion.

e. The end of one paragraph should direct the reader to the next idea.



5. Examples



a. Example One (From a document on teaching children with special needs)



The term "disabilities" comprises many conditions that may inhibit student learning (e.g., visual and auditory difficulties, cognitive processing delay, behavioral management). Often students with disabilities require specialized instructional strategies to reduce the degree to which these inhibitors may affect learning. Students with special needs require a highly-qualified teacher with training and experience in addressing such needs. As part of the tutor selection process, ATS identifies those teachers possessing these unique skills, resulting in the ability to match students with special needs with tutors possessing appropriate teaching ability. Teachers will utilize strategies that allow for differentiated pacing with careful sequencing, monitoring, and control of the learning process.



External support to prior paragraph: [The prior paragraph concludes with the statement that some students have disabilities that affect their ability to learn.] "The term "disabilities" comprises"

Central point: The teachers in this company differentiate their instruction to maximize student learning. Notice that this paragraph makes this point, but does not need to state it explicitly.

Topic chain 1: Conditions. This is supported by the following words and phrases throughout: disabilities, degree, inhibitors, such needs, special needs, differentiated

Topic chain 2: Specialized instruction. This is supported by the following words and phrases throughout: specialized instructional strategies, highly-qualified teacher, selection, unique skills, teaching ability, teachers

External support to next paragraph: "Teachers will utilize strategies" [The next paragraph discusses how strategies are selected.]



b. Example Two (King Henry's lines, From Shakespeare's Henry V, act 3, scene 6)


GLOUCESTER.

I hope they will not come upon us now.



KING HENRY.

We are in God's hands, brother, not in theirs.

March to the bridge; it now draws toward night.

Beyond the river we'll encamp ourselves,

And on to-morrow bid them march away.



External support to prior paragraph: "Not in theirs."

Central Point: We will defeat them ("bid them march away").

Topic chain 1: Timing of events. This is supported by the following words and phrases: it, night, to-morrow

Topic chain 2: Placement. This is supported by the following words and phrases: in God's hand, in theirs, to the bridge, beyond the river, away

External support to next paragraph: "bid them march away." [This is the end of the scene, and they leave. However, we are referred to "them," the French. The next scene begins in the French camp.]



Keep up the writing! Keep up the writing! Editing services are available if you need professional assistance.



--
David Bowman is the Owner and Chief Editor of Precise Edit (http://PreciseEdit.com), a comprehensive editing, proofreading, and document analysis service for authors, students, and businesses. Precise Edit also offers a variety of other services, such as translation, transcription, and website
development.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> SEO Writing Can Make You Rich as a Freelance Writer http://www.articletrader.com/writing/seo-writing-can-make-you-rich-as-a-freelance-writer.html http://www.articletrader.com/writing/seo-writing-can-make-you-rich-as-a-freelance-writer.html Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0500
If you want to see examples of SEO articles, browse through any of the online article distribution directories. You will notice many of the SEO articles range in length between 500 and 700 words and paragraphs often repeat with selected keywords.

My friend, Peter Callahan, likes to write sports-related material for the Internet. Many writers, like Peter, write material to inform, entertain and educate readers. Some writers understand clients hire them to write web content for web pages (SEO writing) to ensure higher search engine placement. In many cases, these writers still provide quality-written work for SEO. However, if a client requests the writer to provide keyword-stuffed articles with a certain (keyword) density, then the writer is at the mercy of the client. Crafting keyword-stuffed sentences into a well-written article is hard. Still, both article types - magazine-quality articles and SEO articles - pay the bills. If you become a freelance writer who can swing to one type and then back to the next, then you will receive steady paychecks. The commodity you need will be time.

Here are a few things you should know if you decide to write magazine-quality articles or SEO content for websites:

1. Web content will likely range from 100-1000 words depending on what your client wants.

2. It will either be keyword-enriched or informative. Ask your client what his goals are and what he wants to accomplish with his articles.

3. Topics will range around keywords in most cases.

4. If quantity is worth more than quality to your client, then make sure you protect yourself. Don't use your name. Use a pen name. There's nothing worse than to ghostwrite a lot of keyword-stuffed articles aimed at search engines, and then to hit a major book deal and find your client had (accidentally) attached your byline to those non-informative, (almost) meaningless keyword-stuffed articles. Publishers will frown on this.

5. Topics for web content are wide-ranging.

WRITING SEO ARTICLES

Writers who write SEO content are in high demand. These writers often have 20+ jobs waiting in line for them at a time because clients will wait on them to do the job right.

SEO writing is an excellent way to break into freelance writing but it will not make you a recognized writer. Most of what you will write will be from the technical angle of search engine optimization.

A client in search of SEO material will submit a list of keywords focused on a specific term or category. The writer uses these keywords and writes keyword-stuffed articles using variations of these keywords

Usually clients who want SEO writing will request a certain number of words per article. If a client hires you to write a large batch of articles, you will want to range the lengths from 150 words to 1000 words. From my experience, SEO articles shouldn't go beyond 525 words.

Writing SEO content is a wonderful way to make some great money but it won't do anything great for you as a writer. In fact, SEO article writing can often hinder your talents if you stay with it long enough because it simply isn't the best work out there to help you prove yourself as a freelance writer.

If you decide to write keyword-stuffed articles, you'll need to know more than just the topic. You'll need to write articles using specific keywords to help your clients rank higher on search engines, most specifically, Google.com. By doing this more people will see your client's website and go to the site more frequently.

As an SEO writer, you will need to know the rules for density rates and so forth. This can be done by doing a search on "keyword density checkers" or "free keyword density checkers." Find one that is user friendly. Run your articles through these density checkers to determine their keyword density. Clients will want to see articles with varying density. To ensure the best possible articles for SEO content, always use various keywords.

With the Internet adding more and more web pages, you can make a lot of money in web content. However, just because you are a talented writer doesn't mean you will pick up the knack for writing SEO articles successfully. You will need to research SEO writing thoroughly to do it correctly.

Affiliates often hire writers to write content for their websites. If you want to break into writing for the web, you must know the ins and outs of writing SEO content. We aren't going to visit those concepts here because you can find many books on the subject. You can also visit many free websites that teach you how to write for search engines.

Here are some tips to write effective SEO content:

TIP # 1: The keyword or keyword phrase should always be in the first line of every paragraph.

TIP # 2: If you are doing keyword articles as a ghostwriter, make sure you have a contract with your client stating he will not use your byline. You don't want magazine editors or loyal readers to recognize you for writing non-informative keyword-stuffed articles. At the same time, SEO writing is a necessary skill if you want to make a lot of money in writing web content.

TIP # 3: Use Google's keyword tool to see what keywords connect with other keywords or phrases. You can take Google's keyword suggestions and use them in your article so your client's website will rank higher in search engines. Google's tool enables you to capture some of the keywords associated with a phrase, as requested by the client. If you learn to research which words can pull the most "hits" on the search engines, you'll become more valuable to your client.

TIP # 4: Take the keyword phrase and use it in several variations.

TIP # 5: When a client hires you to write web content, ask what the client's goals are because he may want SEO articles, or he may want informative, well-written articles, or he may want both.

FINDING SEO WRITING GIGS

1) Most clients who need SEO writers post their needs on Elance.com, Guru.com and GetAFreelancer.com, and let writers bid for the projects. Clients will tell you how many articles they require; the word length; the topics; keywords; and sometimes the keyword-density.

2) SEO has become an enormously popular type of writing and the demand is huge. Because of the huge demand, we now have many established SEO writing companies, instead of individual freelancers, that provide these same services. These SEO writing companies always recruit outside freelance writers. If you want to write SEO copy and don't want to bid on SEO projects, then do a search on Google for SEO writing companies and contact the persons in charge for a freelance position.

3) Search Google News for press releases announcing new websites. Visit these new websites and contact the person in charge. These new websites always need SEO writing.

4) Search through the Elance Service Providers at Elance.com and contact freelance graphic designers and see if you can pair up your skills with theirs.

5) Search the search engines, jobbanks, such as FreelanceWriting.com, and advertise your skills as an SEO writer on your own website.


--
Brian Scott is a freelance writer for http://www.FreelanceWriting.com, a free website offering freelance writing jobs and hundreds of writer's guidelines to paying magazines. Read his blog for freelance writers at http://workingwritersnewsletter.blogspot.com


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> Crime Writing - Ten Cliches to Avoid http://www.articletrader.com/writing/crime-writing-ten-cliches-to-avoid.html http://www.articletrader.com/writing/crime-writing-ten-cliches-to-avoid.html Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0600
Cops and Doctors

You can find this perennial favourite in both crime and historical fiction. You'll see it in ER, NYPD Blue and in cross -genre shows like the X Files. The doctor says "OK but only for a minute" or "It's touch and go. The next few hours will be crucial" or "It could be minutes, it could be days... you never know with coma cases" The policemen usually say nothing. They just stand around and chew the scenery in frustration.

Mulder and Scully actually spend a lot of their time hanging around in hospitals but you don't notice so much because the patients aren't your run of the mill criminals or witnesses.

And that's the way to get around this one. Get a new twist and add some tension. Maybe the patient is related to either the cop or the doctor. Or maybe the doctor is an amateur detective and knows better than the cop? But beware of the "Dick Van Dyke" syndrome... that leads you into a whole new area of cliche

The New Partner

In this scenario a veteran cop has to get a new partner after the death of his old one. The rookie is either keen as mustard and eager to please, or burned out from personal problems. It's probably best known in modern times from the Lethal Weapon movies. Screenwriters tried to add some tension early in the series by having Mel Gibson as a borderline suicide case, and that gave the first film an edge; but it was lost in later instalments. By the time the fourth movie came came along they had fallen so deeply into a buddy movie relationship that all drama was lost in favour of light comedy.

You need to do some serious subverting if you want to use this situation. People have tried having a dog as the buddy in K9, having their Mom as the buddy in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, and having foreigners as the buddy in big Arnie's Red Heat.

Outside the strictly police procedural we've also had the robot buddy in Robocop, the ghost buddy in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), the alien buddy in Alien Nation, the magician buddy in Jonathan Creek, the ex-serviceman buddy in both Sherlock Holmes and Poirot. The list just goes on and on.

However you do it, filling in the blanks is easy in this scenario. What you need is something new. How about having the cop being given a politician doing a meet-the-people stint. Or, on a completely tasteless but might be funny level, how about the schizophrenic cop who is his own buddy?

The Rookie in the Morgue

Once only the province of young students in Quincy, this one now turns up on TV in the CSI franchise or Crossing Jordan and in print in the Kay Scarpetta books. There are usually two ways this one can proceed. Either the young cop rushes out, hand at mouth, or he stands still, icily cold and detached, as the autopsy proceeds.

Inspector Morse tried to subvert this situation by having the old timer as the squeamish one, but how about having the rookie as the pathologist?

Whatever you do, try not to give the pathologist a chance to be smug and patronizing while explaining large chunks of the plot. In the UK, this is overdone in Silent Witness and Waking the Dead, and is just a lazy way to advance the story.

The Cantankerous Lieutenant Chews Out The Cop

In films and television shows this happens to every protagonist, and Clint Eastwood for one must be tired of it. In the Dirty Harry series he was rarely out of his boss's office.

It usually ends up with the lieutenant and the cop snarling at each other, so how about having one of them being completely calm and laid back? Or how about having one of them being deaf?

And if you must write this scene, please don't use lines like "I'll have your badge for that", or "I'm not covering for you this time"

The Slimy Defence Lawyer

This one was a hot favourite on NYPD Blue and was guaranteed to get right up Sipowitz's nose. Once you've introduced the sharp suit, the slick hairstyle and the briefcase, this guy will inevitably say, "My client has no further comment," or "You had no right to talk to him without me there." Everybody knows the rest.

Again, serious though is needed to bring a new twist to this situation. Your lawyer could be an ex-cop who knows all the moves, or a relative or lover of one of the cops? How about a lawyer defending himself? Or a counter-culture lawyer covered with tattoos and piercings?

Whatever you do try to come up with some creative invective. Slimeball, sleazeball, reptile and shyster have all been overused.

The Car Chase

Bullit and The French Connection set the standard, and Gone in 60 Seconds brought it into the 21st Century, but this situation has mostly become tired. There are only so many little old ladies to avoid, so many road signs to hit, and so many police cars to trash before your audience becomes jaded.

Over the years the Bond movies have used up just about all the possible permutations, so you'll struggle to come up with something new. It would be better to add tension in another way.

In a bid to appear fresh, the chase element has sometimes been dropped altogether in favour of the race against time as in Speed or Die Hard With a Vengeance. To succeed you'll need a good reason for the journey to take place, a disastrous outcome if it's not successful, and some good near misses on the way.

But beware. Too much carnage and your readers will start thinking of The Blues Brothers. And please, don't have your protagonist drive the wrong way down a one-way street.. it's been done far too often.

The Shoot Out

Raymond Chandler's advice to crime writers still holds. "If your plot is flagging, have a man come in with a gun." You've got to be careful though. Too many people still transfer scenes from old cowboy movies almost verbatim into modern cop scenes.

Probably the best recent shoot out was in Michael Mann's Heat. You cared who lived or died, and there was excitement and tension. Therein lies the trick. Make your readers have an opinion, not just about your hero, but about the other characters as well. At the end of LA Confidential, we knew all of the people involved in the climax, and it made it more satisfying to watch who lived or died. Lining one-dimensional people up just as cannon fodder might work in a Saturday night popcorn movie, but we should be aiming higher than that.

Shoot outs work well on film, but they can be a drag in print. Some writers tend to slow things down, especially to have a close look at the wounds. Unless you're careful it can read like a medical textbook.

And, please, don't have heads "exploding like ripe watermelons."

The Cop in The Cafe

This was used in Chips in every episode, giving them an excuse to show a motorbike speeding from a car park with loose gravel flying.

It's also a favourite in most of the aforementioned buddy movies, and especially in Starsky and Hutch. They'll be in a cafe, musing over the chewing out they've had from their boss, when a call comes through. The radio buzzes, giving them a chance to attach a flashing light to the roof of their car and head off to a car chase, closely followed by a shoot out. See how it's possible to run one cliche into another? Pretty soon you'd have a whole plot, but would anybody buy it?

One way of changing this scene might be to have an alternative means of the cops getting the message. You could have them hearing something on the Television? Or how about on a cell-phone or laptop... there are multiple opportunities for foul ups, misunderstandings or criminal actions there, and they haven't been overdone... yet.

Good Cop / Bad Cop

The good cop / bad cop interview became a cliche almost as soon as crime fiction began. A fine example, nearly seventy years old, can be seen in The Maltese Falcon. By now everybody knows the moves, and your readers will be bored long before the interview is over. Unless you're being self-referential and ironic, as in LA Confidential you'll never pull it off.

Cracker tried to subvert the interview situation altogether by having it performed by a psychiatrist who played both cops in one. In The Rock, Sean Connery as the prisoner told Nicholas Cage which questions he should be asking. You'll need to find something similarly innovative if you're going to make it work.

How about having two good cops? Or two bad cops? Or maybe there is a new computer system designed by psychologists to ask the right questions in the right order? How would your cops and your prisoner handle that?

The Estranged Wife

Why do all fictional cops have relationship problems? This scene always goes the same way. The wife says, "You never see the children anymore." The cop doesn't say anything, because his mobile phone interrupts. You know the rest.

Cracker is again a good case in point as he went through this scene in almost every episode. Pacino played a variation of it with his girlfriend in Heat.

Not only does Cracker have a failed marriage, but he's also a gambler and a drinker. In recent years people have been giving cops more and more problems to overcome, culminating in Denzel Washington's paraplegic investigator in The Bone Collector. I wouldn't even try to top that.

Why not be original. Make your cop a healthy, stable, happily married man. Now there's a challenge.

Conclusion

The next time you read or watch a police drama, notice how many of the above are still in use. All of them can occur in any one story, and frequently do... just shuffle the paragraphs, add a murder or two and you have an instant plot.

But unless you can subvert some of the cliches, don't expect anybody to buy it.

--

William Meikle is a Scottish writer, with seven novels published in the States. He is available for all freelance writing work.


Contact him and read some free fiction at his web site http://www.williammeikle.com



Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> Writing Tips - 7 Habits to Avoid http://www.articletrader.com/writing/writing-tips-7-habits-to-avoid_1.html http://www.articletrader.com/writing/writing-tips-7-habits-to-avoid_1.html Sat, 23 May 2009 11:44:00 -0500

There are all kinds of writing tips floating around on how to do this or that correctly. Today we're going to take a different approach and focus on what NOT to do when writing an article.

Lets face it article writing can be time consuming and sometimes even presents challenges that can be frustrating. As a result you don't want your time and effort to be wasted when people don't even read what you wrote.

What we're going to address here today is how to write an article that will not only ATTRACT readers but one that will also keep them reading. We're going to focus on subtle little habits that we may develop that actually sabotage our article writing efforts.

Here are 7 habits that can actually repel readers that you will want to avoid when writing articles:

Avoid UNPOPULAR Topics

It is always a good idea to focus your efforts on topics that interest you. It certainly makes the article research easier to conduct and you are usually already somewhat knowledgeable about the subject. However if you pick something of little or no interest to readers the odds are against your article being read by many people.

When conducting your article research you can easily check on the popularity of the subject thru a quick online search. The numbers in your search results will clearly indicate how popular the topic is.

Pay MORE Attention to the Title

Don't just slap any title on your article and assume it will work. You want to title your article in a way that will catch a readers eye. Shock them, challenge them, provoke them, or arouse their curiosity in some way with your title. If your title doesn't attract a reader they'll NEVER read your great content and your effort will be wasted.

Avoid Drifting From Your Point

When you choose a topic you want to pursue maintain the theme or intention or your article throughout the entire body of your content. Articles that tend to drift from the point can quickly make a reader lose interest and as a result they may never completely read it.

They chose your article since the subject interested them therefore keep their interest by staying on the subject!

Present Your Content in a Logical Order

When you write an article you're in essence writing a short story that has an introduction, the body of content, and then a conclusion. Your article should 'flow' or have a logical fashion in the way the content is presented. If you jump around from point to point in a way that does not makes sense to the reader you will confuse them. Once again you're discouraging them from completing your article.

Use a Reader Friendly Format

When writing articles be careful to NOT get carried away by your interest or enthusiasm for the subject and forget that you ARE writing for the reader. Be sure that the formatting of your article, the way in which it is laid out, is reader friendly.

In earlier articles I spoke of varying formats that are more appealing to a reader. One popular format is listing out your points numerically in the article to make it easier for readers to follow or to reference later.

Avoid Rambling

Keep your paragraphs as brief as possible. Make your point and then move on. The more you write the greater the tendency to ramble. If your content requires longer paragraphs to make a point you may considered breaking the article up into a series of separate articles.

Articles are meant to be relatively brief so be aware of this when putting your content together.

Avoid Content That DOESN'T Benefit Reader

The article research you conduct should give you some useful, thought provoking, entertaining, or otherwise worthwhile information to present to your reader. Quality content should ALWAYS be the foundation upon which you 'build' your article. You do not want to waste the readers' time.

Of all the writing tips you may hear the most important one to remember is this: any time you're writing an article keep your readers in mind. By supplying content they will like and presenting it in a way that's easy to follow topped off with an eye-catching title your article likely will get you the results you want!





--
TJ Philpott is an author and Internet entrepreneur based out of North Carolina.
For additional Online Success Tips
and a free guide that demonstrates how to find both profitable markets and products visit:http://affiliatequickstart.com/


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> Work Citation Made Easy http://www.articletrader.com/writing/work-citation-made-easy.html http://www.articletrader.com/writing/work-citation-made-easy.html Wed, 05 Jul 2006 00:00:00 -0500
If one ever wishes to express these ideas in conjunction with thoughts he/she has developed than one must give credit to the creator of those original ideas. If no acknowledgment is given then the result is plagiarism.

In order to avoid plagiarism one must record where specific information was found. Even though there are various citation styles depending on the type of information researched, every citation requires the same parts: Author, Title, Title of Periodical (if available), Volume (if available), Page(s), and Date. To make it easy, before doing a research paper create an organizational template to copy down this information as research is gathered.

There are various styling formats for work citations. The most common ones are MLA style, APA style, Chicago Manual of Style, and CBE style. One’s field of research will often dictate what style is used. Most college research is cited in the MLA Style (Modern Language Association). The American Psychological Association (APA) established its own style. It is mainly used for research in social and behavioral sciences. These sciences include psychology, sociology, anthropology, business, education, etc. The Chicago Manual of Style is commonly used in the publishing industry and may also be referred to as the Turabian style. CBE style is based on the rules set forth by the Council of Biology Editors and is used mainly for science research papers.

When creating a research paper or article one must see the Works Cited page as a part of the paper rather than an addition to it that requires more time and effort. By organizing the citation parts while conducting the research one will save time when it comes to creating the work citations.


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Scott created a website called www.bibliographywrite.com after seeing that there were very few websites which provided information and examples on how to properly create a Works Cited or Bibliography page.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> How To Write Keyword - Rich Content For Maximum Impact http://www.articletrader.com/writing/how-to-write-keyword-rich-content-for-maximum-impact.html http://www.articletrader.com/writing/how-to-write-keyword-rich-content-for-maximum-impact.html Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500
You may ask yourselves: “But what good are keywords? What you want, when you are marketing a product is for people to be able to easily find you. The methods you are using while searching for something specific, are the same methods all the Internet users out there utilize, that is keyword search.

You shouldn’t be reluctant in writing keyword-rich articles, even though you’ve never done this before. It is nothing different than writing regular pieces of content. All you need to do is simply follow these easy guidelines for keyword writing and get ready to have readers pour in!

- Learn the buzzwords.

Every industry has its own jargon and language. If you’re a master in your field, it’s quite easy to identify the keywords and you don't need to read up on it. If you’re writing about a relatively new subject for you, do some additional research. Read several different articles to get an idea of the language used and the most popular sub-categories of the field.

- Write the article without focusing on the keywords.

When writing an article, it’s best not to focus on the keywords so much; don’t let yourself carried away by time-wasting word-selection, which might prevent you from writing in a natural manner. If you know what you’re writing about, then keywords will smoothly fall where you want them to, without effort, and you will get your keywords without even knowing.

- Determine the popularity of your keywords.

Uses the Overture Keyword Selector Tool to find out how many times your visitors have used keywords that directed them to your site.

http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

Type in the word and hit return.

- Select keywords that are specific rather than general.

If I was to write an article on negotiating fees with a freelance copywriter, then I would use popular keywords, related to my topic, such as "Freelance copywriting rates" as this is probably something a potential visitor would actually type.

- Scan your existing text for keywords

After completing your draft and selecting your keywords, put them together. Try to find the first keyword. You might as well have slipped it there, if you knew how to write your article.

- Find and Change

Instead of using the word “writing” in your article about copywriting, “copywriting” should be a better choice. Change all these keyword-phrases and re-order some of your sentences.

- Proofread your article

Read the text again, now that you have changed it, take time to correct it; check for spelling mistakes, etc. Try not to repeat the same word, and try to make your vocabulary as varied as possible.

- Include the keywords in your headline

You will usually come up with the best headline for your article at the end of the writing process, and not before, so wait until you finish and then you will get the best hard-hitting headline.

Are you feeling more comfortable now about keyword article writing? You can start making money by writing keyword-rich content for the world.


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Craig Andrews is a recognized expert and author relating to information web site creation, Internet marketing, article submission, traffic generation, and search engine optimization. He is also the creator of ‘Online Infopreneur’. ‘Online Infopreneur’ is a step-by-step system (Site-Content-Traffic-Income) to convert your hobby, passion, pastime, interests, or work knowledge into a profitable online business. http://craigsandrews.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> Absurdity of Absurd: Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Go dot http://www.articletrader.com/writing/absurdity-of-absurd-samuel-becketts-waiting-for-go-dot.html http://www.articletrader.com/writing/absurdity-of-absurd-samuel-becketts-waiting-for-go-dot.html Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500 What I found in the dustbin of my memories about this go dot is:
"On 19 Nov 1957, a group of worried actors were preparing to face their audience . The actors were members of the company of the San Francisco Actors’ Workshop . The audience consisted of fourteen hundred convicts at the San Quentin penitentiary . No live play had been performed at San Quentin since Sarah Bernhardt appeared there in 1913 .Now ,forty four years later ,the play that had been chosen ,largely because no woman appeared in it , was Samuel Beckett’s WAITING FOR GODOT’(3). …"Beckett real triumph ,…came when WAITING FOR GODOT which appeared in book form in 1952,was first produced on 5 January 1953 , at the little Theatre de Babylone (now defunct ),…’(4)
And I found also some lines of this play:
"…
ESTRGON:Didi.
VLADIMIR:Yes.
ESTRGON:I can’t go on like this.
VLADIMIR: That’s what you think.
ESTRAGON:If we parted?That might be better of us .
VLADIMIR:We’ll hang ourselves tomorrow.(Pause)Unless Go dot comes.
ESTRAGON:And if comes?
VLADIMIR:We’ll be saved
…"(5)
It is said about Beckett that when he was asked that what he meant by Go dot he answered "If I knew ,I would have said so in the play"(6).’WAITING FOR GODOT does not tell a story ;it explores a static situation ‘(7).So it is clear from the very beginning that Beckett tried to create a ‘character’ without a character’ as he himself doesn’t know him [Go dot], and again the movement of plot tends to zero ,i.e. there is absolutely no plot . Previously it was taken for granted that if there exists a literary piece then there must be either a story( or plot) to tellor any character to be represented .But did exactly opposite to revolutionize his concept .He presents a ‘character’ whom he himself does not know and tell a plot which is nothing but variations in arrangements and sequences of few events with negligible movement or action :’nothing happens , nobody comes nobody goes …’ (8).
But can be the term ‘Absurd’ assigned to merely these qualities of the play? No, there are still more as mentioned by critics .In an essay on Kalfka ,Ionesco defined his understanding of the term as ‘ Absurd is that which is devoid of purpose…’(9).And the purposeless becomes evident when ‘ the more things change , the more they are the same ‘(10).And this is done by creating uncommon situations in the play by Breckett . For instance the boy who carries message of Go dot to Estragon and Vladimir fails to recognize them on each day of his reappearance ."The French version explicitly states that the boy who appears in the second act is the same boy as the one in the first act , yet the boy denies that he has even seen the two tramps before , and insists that this is the first time he has acted as Go dot’s messenger’(11).And this is done while ‘waiting’ which is interpreted by Martin Esslin as ‘Waiting is to experience the action of time , which is constant change . And yet , as nothing real ever happens , the change is itself an illusion .The ceaseless activity of time is a self defeating purposeless…’(12).
And thus by this purposelessness Beckett tries to prove the absurdity of his play .But is this really absurd ? If we view it from some different point of views we can suddenly find something contradicting . It is because we know the fact that ‘ truth is never real’ ,and what we define for a situation becomes a truth for us , for that moment . So is the case of abnormality or normality of a situation . When any action is most common that becomes ‘ normal ‘ for us and this is the very base of our understanding .We understand what is most common and general .We understand something uncommon by referring it to some common things or actions we understand .So our very base of understanding is based upon some general truth or common events ,the state which we call normal .Now when we something out of order in a play (e.g. WAITIG FOR GODOT) ,we interpret it in terms of those ‘ commons’ of our memory .But on this view we analyze , can uncommon or absurdity be perceived by us directly without any aid or reference to our definition of ‘normality’ ? It is similar to what Rene’ Wellek tried to explain in his essay ‘ATTACK ON LITERATURE’ by citing an example of Samuel Beckett’s ENDGAME .Becket has portrayed a character in END GAME who was ‘ looking for the voice of his silence ‘(13).’The artist’s dissatisfaction with language can only be expressed by language .Pause may be a device to express the inexpressible ,but pause can’t be prolonged indefinitely ,cann't be simply silence as such . It needs contrast , it needs a beginning and an end…’(14).
This statement suggests the importance of contrast and this is as true in case of absurdity and non-absurdity as it is true in the case of silence and music .
In this light we can reach decision that there is no sense of absurdity without the normality . But how this is true in case of Go dot can be analyzed as follows :
Beckett tries hard to achieve absurdity by doing through his characters , the abnormal things (or at least normal things in abnormal sequence ), still there remains the elements of non-absurdity in every corner of the play . The boy who doesn’t recognize the two tramps bring message from the same Go dot (It never happens ever that Go dot brings a message from the boy ;or the tramps bring message from the boy to go dot ;or tramps speak out the message that the boy brings from the Go dot for them ;or Go dot never receives message from tramps and so many can be the absurd case ).It was only one angle of interpretation of the situation .Other interpretations can be many in numbers :Go dot waits for tramps ;or tramps don’t wait for Go dot while they say they waited. etc. etc.
When I mean to say is that whatever action is done in the play has therefore the elements of non-absurdity .We could have recognized them if what we call absurdity would be the most normal and what we now feel normal would have been absurd .In fact we can’t express absurdity itself and this is the deceiving nature of ‘Absurdity’ , because the moment we speak out something it becomes a little different from what we originally meant to express . ‘Words , the medium of fiction ,are a fabrication of man’s intellect .They are a part of human lie ‘(14).And for this reason any literature needs that medium to be expressed , that becomes deceptive .So Roland Barthes of France says therefore that ‘Literature is a system of deceptive signification…emphatically signifying ,but never finally signified ‘(16).
Therefore whatever actions Beckett tried to fabricated in to the play , stands till today between in the limits of absurd and non-absurd and how this action is nearer to any of these two limits depends on what words are used and how they are used to define the limits .
That’s why the play ‘..of the supposedly esoteric avant-grade make so immediate and so deep an impact on an audience of convicts…’(17),where as the critics could not easily accepted the play as an art in the beginning .
Martin Esslin writes : ‘ because it confronted them [the prisoners] with a situation in some ways analogous to their own ? Perhaps . Or perhaps because they were un sophisticated enough to come to the theater without any preconceived notions and readymade expectations ,so that they avoided the mistake that trapped so many established critics who condemned the play for its lack of plot ,development , characterizations , suspense or plain common sense ‘(18).And of course this is what we see as the attempt to define absurd with non-absurd .Similarly many other attempts have been made in the past and present to create uncommon out of common .For example the Dadaist Movement . ‘Attempts have been made not only to widen the realm of art ,but to abolish the boundary between the art and the non-art . In music , noises of machines or the streets are used ; in painting, collage uses stuck-on news papers , buttons , medals and so on , or ‘found objects’ –soup cans , bicycle wheels , electric bulbs , any piece of junks—are exhibited . the newest fad is ‘earth works’ , holes or trenches in the ground , tracks through a corn field , square sheets of leads in snow . A ‘sculptor’ , Christo wrapped a million square feet of Australian coastline in plastic . At 1972 Bicnnale in Venice , a painter ,Gino de Dominicis , exhibited a mongoloid picked up from the streets as a work of art .In poetry poems have been concocted by the Dadaists by drawing news paper clippings from a bag at random ; more recently poems have been produced by computer and a shuffle novel (by Marc Saporta ) has appeared , in which every page can be replaced by another in any order …’(18).
Similarly we can cite the example of Pop-Culture now so popular by the young generations ,which was once considered as absurd .So what conclusion we reached can be seen in the light of that contrast theory of silence and music told in this essay in the beginning , that whatever we want to express (may it be ‘Silence’ or ‘Absurdity’ ) we need words to express . But ‘a word can never be a thing ‘(20).So we can either achieve a situation or express it , but we cannot do both because , if we try to do , the situation won’t be the same .This is what we can imply when we speak of absurdity ; i.e. we can’t be totally absurd in expression as there is no proper medium exists .
By concluding this I think I have reached at the ‘ right place at the right time’ , because if I am right then I will reach the right thing , but if I reach the wrong (as I will get non-sense)that will be rather a right thing due to our context . My attempt of criticism , ‘ is an attempt to make us more reasonable’


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For More Free Resources visit http://www.allfreereports.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> How To Write Your First eBook http://www.articletrader.com/writing/how-to-write-your-first-ebook.html http://www.articletrader.com/writing/how-to-write-your-first-ebook.html Thu, 29 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0500
Before you start, when you are looking at the whole project, it’s like sitting at the bottom of a very tall mountain. But, the fact is that the mountain is there to be climbed and, no matter how tough it is, it CAN be climbed, step by step.

Writing an eBook is no different. A daunting, perhaps even scary task before you set out on your journey, but one that will get progressively easier as you become more and more skilled at dealing with the task in hand. Like the mountain, it’s a step by step process, sometimes laborious, sometimes inspiring, until one day you arrive and the “summit” and write your last word!

The first thing that you need to do before you attempt to write one single word is to get organized.

Start out by coming up with a few potential ideas for the title of your book. Simply write down everything that comes into your head an eventually, you’ll find what you are looking for.

One thing that helps me with titles is to try and think of them when I am NOT at my computer. If you try to think of titles when driving your car, taking the train or digging the garden, the different perspective of your surroundings will often generate title ideas that are really original!

Aim for a title that tells your potential reader what the book is about, whilst also being intriguing enough to make him or her want to know more. For example, use words like “secrets” or “hidden”, to imply that there is more than the title is telling them.

Have a clear picture in mind of who your target audience for the book is and try to “connect” with that audience in your title.

For example, if your eBook is about gardening, which tends to be a more mature persons hobby, a title like “Yo, dude, dig that lawn” whilst undoubtedly pretty “trick” and clever, would be a complete waste of time!

Next, write a two to three sentence outline for you eBook. What is the problem and how your book will solve it is basically what you are after here.

The purpose of this is to keep you focused. At all times, make sure that everything that you are writing supports the ideas and proposition that you are putting forward in your book.

Also, this outline will stop you wandering off down “blind alleys”, writing about stuff that, whilst it may be very interesting or informative, in fact, it does nothing to support what you are writing about.
Such “off topic” meanderings in eBooks are very common, and are often known as “fluff, “filler” or (more succinctly) “BS”! Fill your eBook with this stuff, and the reader will pretty quickly cotton on to the fact that you don’t really have much to say, and the amount of people asking for their money back will be depressingly high!

This brings us to the most crucial question that you must ask yourself, as unemotionally and in as detached manner as you can possibly manage.

Is it really worth writing your eBook at all?

Is your idea big enough to fill a book, or is it just an article stretched out to the maximum? Are you genuinely imparting new knowledge or perhaps old knowledge presented in a new and refreshing way?

In other words, will someone who bys your eBook get value from it?

Only you can decide this before you write the book but you must be self-critical to the max, because, as sure as eggs is eggs, the people who buy your book will be!

Will your book contain genuinely useful information and is that information right up to date. It’s amazing the number of eBooks that come to the market spouting stuff that was working last year as “the latest thing”!

Can your book positively affect the lives of your readers? If so, how, and how easy or difficult is it to act on your ideas and suggestions?

Is your book a good read, one that will retain the attention of the reader?

If you can, with hand on heart, answer yes to these questions, then you sound like you have something worth getting out there, so start writing!

Remember what we said earlier about the title? Aim it as specifically as possible at your target market? The same goes for every word of your eBook. Do NOT try to aim your book at “everyman” – target your market, never lose sight of who that person is and aim every word you write at them.

For example, going back to our earlier example, your eBook is about gardening. Try to think of someone you know who enjoys their garden and aim every word at that specific person. In fact, give them the first copy to read when the eBooks finished – I’ll guarantee that they will come up with many useful additions for you!

Think about why you are writing the book in the first place. What is it that you want to achieve by doing so? Are you planning to sell it from a website, or give it away as a free gift, trying to collect names for a list? Are you planning to split it up into separate modules to give away as an e-course?

Perhaps you just want to use it to help establish your credentials as an expert in your chosen field?

Only you can answer this one.

Aim at all times to make your writing as engaging and interesting as possible.

Use real life examples, stories, anecdotes, testimonials, illustrations and pictures to break up your “message” into bite-sized hunks. Keep our sentences short, and aim to write reasonably informally and in a friendly manner. You are not attempting to write a classic of literature and an informal, relaxed style tends to work best.

Don’t expect to be a great writer straight out of the box. Many people approach writing their first eBook never having written anything more than emails since they left school, and writing needs practice.

Once you begin writing, try to target a minimum amount of writing that you will do every day, so that you can get into a rhythm. Personally, I would strongly suggest that you do not begin every day by going back and reading what you did yesterday. Doing this, you end up wasting your time “editing” your work and this is a job that you should leave until the first full drat of your book is complete.

Remember that I just suggested that you should not aim to write a literary masterpiece?

Bear this in mind when you are formatting your book. Whilst written books often tend to have a fairly high percentage of the page covered in type, your eBook will sometimes be read onscreen, and therefore there have to be plenty of white areas to avoid straining the reader’s eyes!

Use plenty of bulleted lists. This highlights the points that you are trying to make in a way that is particularly easy to absorb and comprehend.

Pick an easy to read font (I tend to use Verdana) and make sure that the spacing between lines make the pages of your eBook comfortable to read, even on the smallest PC screen.

Spell check the whole thing, but don’t rely on it totally. Type in “an” when you meant “and” and the spellchecker may well miss it (it is a word, after all) but it could make your sentence nonsensical, and lead your reader off in completely the wrong direction!

Proof read it at least a couple of times, and then get someone else to do the same. Absolutely, totally guaranteed that they will pick up errors that you missed (I used to proof read for a leading English school in Japan, so I know what I am talking about!)

Finally, compile the book itself. The most widely accepted format for such publications are PDF files, and these also allow you to publish your book with in-built security features, so that people cannot, for example, copy and past your work.
If you need a great free tool for creating PDF files, do a search for PrimoPDF. I use their PDF creator tool all he time, and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.

Once it’s in PDF format, that’s it, you’re done.

Great job – you are now a full fledged member of the eBook writer’s guild (or, you would be, if I hadn’t just made that up!).

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Steve has much more free advice about writing and many other topics related to the internet on his blog site at http://webbiz99.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> Recycle Your Work http://www.articletrader.com/writing/recycle-your-work.html http://www.articletrader.com/writing/recycle-your-work.html Sun, 23 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0500 Recycling your work is a lot like doing your part to recycle cans and old milk cartons: a simple concept that not enough people do. Many folks don’t realize how easy it is to turn an existing piece of material into new moneymaking products. I made an audio album by reading from the humor section of my “Wake ‘Em Up” book that had already been long completed. The six tapes/CDs were not exactly word for word because I was speaking live and adlibbing wisecracks whenever I felt like it. Even though it is more or less the same material, I have only heard one complaint from a customer, who withdrew it when I explained that reinforcing information helps the brain absorb it more efficiently.

If you have made a pamphlet loaded with information, why not make that data into an article that can be posted online? That way you are promoting your good name as you spread the wealth of your knowledge. Another way to recycle your work is to have your speeches turned into book chapters. The Internet has opened up many different avenues where information can be seen in a variety of ways. Your knowledge is your very own revolving cycle. Use it and reuse it in as many as different places as you can, and why not? It is yours after all.









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Tom Antion provides entertaining speeches and educational seminars. He is the ultimate entrepreneur, having owned many businesses BEFORE graduating college. Tom is the author of the best selling presentation skills book "Wake 'Em Up Business Presentations" and "Click: The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing." It is important to Tom that his knowledge be not only absorbed, but enjoyed. This is why he delivers his speeches laced with great humor and hysterical jokes. Tom has addressed more than 87 different industries and is thoroughly committed to his client's needs. www.antion.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>