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Copywriting Makeover: It’s Not About YOU, It’s About THEM
by Karon Thackston © 2003 http://www.copywritingcourse.com I’ve always loved scented candles. They help create a cozy atmosphere. They give you a relaxed feeling. And - most importantly - they make your home smell wonderful! So, naturally, I was...
Copywriting Makeover: Know Where Your Customers Are In The Buying Process Part 2 of 2
by Karon Thackston © 2004 http://www.copywritingcourse.com In part one of this article series, I introduced a client of mine (AEwebworks) who suffered from some copywriting traumas. The basic diagnosis was a lack of synergy within the copy,...
Marketing for Writers When Writing Just Isn't Enough
Many writers write for the experience. Others dream of having a number one best seller. Both are wonderful reasons for writing. What many fail to realize is that these two do not have to be mutually exclusive. With a little research, you can...
Seven Ways To Connect Your Writing And Your Life
An important question for any artist is: How can I built a career and simultaneously be true to myself? It's an important question, and during the twenty years I've taught writing, hundreds of students have expressed the belief that success and...
Wild Bill's Top 30 Copy Writing Principles!
1. The Right Product for the Right Target Group: Make sure that you are promoting a product that is useful and/or desirable to the audience you are targeting. 2. Use Attention Getting Headlines: You web site will have or should have much...
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Are Writing Exercises Effective?
It was reported that the great American author Sinclair Lewis was once asked to give a lecture on writing to a group of college students: "Looking out at this gathering," he said to the assembled students, "makes me want to know how many of you really and truly wish to become writers?" Every hand in the room went up. Lewis looked at them for a moment and then folded his notes and put them away. "If that's true," he said, "then the best advice I can give you is to go home and start writing." He then turned and left the room.
If the first secret of writing is to write and if you've set up some sort of writing schedule, the next step is to figure out what to write.
Opening a brand new file and looking at a blank screen often results in a kind of brain-freeze; we feel as idea-less as the empty screen we're staring at. Writing exercises can help us thaw our idea bank. The goal of a writing exercise is to open your mind and allow you to hone your skills and experiment. The joy of such an exercise is it's not 'for real.' That is, there's no thought of pleasing an editor or finding a publisher or meeting a deadline or getting paid. You're just writing, with your internal editor turned off.
Some freelancers find writing exercises so effective and
freeing they actually begin every writing session with a 10 or 15-minute exercise. Others use them more sporadically. But however you do it, writing exercises will help you with your writing. Use writing exercises in your writing schedule, as a natural part of your writing discipline; use the exercises often and watch your writing improve.
Ideally, a writing exercise is short, requiring you to spend no more than 10 or 15 minutes writing, thinking and feeling about something that's unrelated to the rest of your writing work. In a way, they are like mini-meditations and mini-vacations because they clear out the cobwebs and give you a new view.
It's that new view, that different way of seeing, of expressing, that's the key to a good writing exercise. Naturally, not every exercise blows your mind every time. Sometimes you are just not ready for the challenge presented, but even then, the seed is planted. Sometimes you are simply not up for doing a writing exercise, which is okay too. Again, simply reading can set some new thoughts in motion.
About the Author
Lana Hampton makes it easy to improve your writing skills. Visit http://www.yowswriting.com today for the latest writing tips and information.
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| Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction ... |
| An online community dedicated to fostering writing skills. With a free membership anyone may read, write, rate, and review works. |
| www.writing.com |
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| Welcome to Writing-World.com! |
| Writing articles and resources. Tips about how to become a better writer, get published and find writing markets. From Moira Allen. |
| www.writing-world.com |
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| Guide to Grammar and Writing |
| The Guide to Grammar and Writing contains scores of digital handouts on grammar and English usage, over 170 computer-graded quizzes, recommendations on ... |
| grammar.ccc.commnet.edu |
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| Purdue University's Online Writing Lab - The OWL Family of Sites |
| Writing lab and resources. Email newsletter available. |
| owl.english.purdue.edu |
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| OWL at Purdue University: General Writing Concerns Handouts |
| This page contains important links to the writing: planning/writing/revising aspects of the OWL website. |
| owl.english.purdue.edu |
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| Writing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| The original Mesopotamian writing system was initially derived from a system of ... If it is deemed to be a written language, writing in China will predate ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Writing.org - Advice for Freelance Writers |
| Articles to help you launch a freelance writing career, from a former literary agent and PLAYBOY editor. |
| www.writing.org |
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| Writing HTML |
| More than just an HTML reference, this is a structured approach for learning how to create web pages, designed by specialists in learning at the Maricopa ... |
| www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu |
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| National Novel Writing Month - National Novel Writing Month |
| NaNoWriMo is an annual (November) novel writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world. |
| www.nanowrimo.org |
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| Poynter Online |
| Apply by Dec. 11 Reporting and Writing the Untold Stories Apply by Dec. 11 ... Reporting & Writing for Multi-Platform Newsrooms. Apply by Jan. 10 ... |
| www.poynter.org |
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| Pages tagged with "writing" on del.icio.us |
| This short online course provides a practical introduction to writing fiction. During the course you will be expected to write two short pieces for ... |
| del.icio.us |
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| BBC Get Writing |
| The BBC's online resource for writing drama and comedy for television, radio and film. |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
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| TOC About Writing |
| Menu of articles on writing written by professional SF/F writers. |
| www.sfwa.org |
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| 11 Rules of Writing -- a concise guide to important grammar ... |
| A concise guide to some of the most frequently violated rules of writing, punctuation, and grammar. |
| www.junketstudies.com |
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| NAEP Writing Subject Area |
| NAEP assesses student performance in writing periodically in grades 4, 8, and 12 for the nation, and in grades 4 and 8 for the states. |
| nces.ed.gov |
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| Writing: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
| See all blog posts tagged with writing on Technorati. |
| www.technorati.com |
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| IPL Teenspace: A+ Research & Writing |
| Includes step-by-step instructions on researching and writing, how to find information online and offline, as well as links to useful resources. |
| www.ipl.org |
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| Dictionary.com: Writing Resources |
| Free online English dictionary and reference guide. List of sites writers can use. |
| dictionary.reference.com |
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| WritingFix: Home of Interactive Writing Prompts and 6 Trait ... |
| Daily and interactive writing prompts. |
| www.writingfix.com |
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| Advice on Academic Writing |
| Includes articles on critical reading, planning, researching, style and editing, grammar and punctuation. |
| www.utoronto.ca |
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