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The blank piece of paper. It’s the hardest thing for the writer to deal with. Sometimes he can stare at it for hours on end and by the time he is done staring it’s still a blank piece of paper. Welcome to the world of writer’s block. Any writer worth his salt has gone through it. The thing that separates the successful writers from the ones who don’t make it is the ability to get through it. Hopefully, the following tips will give you some ammunition to deal with writer’s block.

Please note that this list is by no means written in stone and the only options available to you. They are just some exercises that many writers agree can work.

The one thing you can do to get through writer’s block, believe it or not, is to just walk away. Put down the pen and paper or keyboard of whatever it is you use to put your thoughts down and just take a walk. It doesn’t matter where. If it’s a nice sunny day, take a walk to the park. Sit on a bench and observe your surroundings. Don’t just look, but really observe. Concentrate on the birds. See if you can identify some of them. Stare at a blade of grass or a flower and watch how it moves in the wind. Do whatever you can to get your mind off your writing. By the time you get back home you will many times find that the ideas just begin to flow.

If getting away from your writing isn’t in your nature then there are some exercises you can do while you are writing that can help jog some ideas loose. One of the best methods is to stop writing whatever it is you are working on and start writing something completely different. If you’re writing a murder mystery and can’t come up with the final revelation of how the murder was committed, stop writing about the mystery and start writing a poem, or a to do list for people who want to get into the writing business. Get your mind off of the specific thing that you’re writing about but still keep your mind active in the writing mode. Many times you will find that the idea you are looking for will just pop into your head.

Another thing you can do to get past writer’s block is to do a writing exercise. Think about the topic you are writing on and make a checklist of all related topics that you can think of to that topic. For example, let’s say you’re writing a non fiction book about mole and wart removal and you’re looking for related topics to add to the book to reinforce the methods discussed for mole and wart removal. Think about what things are associated with health in general. Make a list. You’ll probably come up with diet, cleanliness, exercise and a number of other things. This will give you additional ideas for things you can include in your book such as a chapter on diet and exercise. Maybe a section on the immune system since moles and warts are usually caused by weak immune systems. By simply thinking of related material you’ll be surprised on what you can come up with. Don’t just focus on the main topic. Expand your mind and your book will expand.

These are just a few of many things you can try to get through your writer’s block. We’ll try to cover some more tips in future articles.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Writing Tips [http://writing-tips-guide.com]

Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Wiley Books for Writers Series) Review

I bought this book with a little bit of trepidation based on some of the negative reviews. I was pleasantly surprised.

I think this is an excellent, well written, and very helpful book. I did not find it repetitive [at all] like one reviewer stated.

The author gives a very easy to understand “step by step” breakdown of the writing and publishing process. She is a successful writer in her own right and she does a very nice job of sharing her experience with beginning writers. Her writing is very easy to read and understand and her “voice” in the book is very encouraging and supportive. She makes writing & publishing non-fiction and self help seem very achievable.

Parts of this book may be too elementary for anyone with any writing experience. Some of the sections were a bit elementary for me [but I read them anyway just in case! ]. But other sections I found very, very helpful. I think practically anyone could gain some advice and insight from this book – definitely enough to make it worth the modest price.

I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 ONLY because the book is becoming a bit dated at this point. The book was published in 1997, and I don’t think it reflects the changes in writing/publishing that have occurred [due to technology]. The publishing industry is changing. I would love to see an update of this wonderful book.

Regardless, this book will help you write that book you have in your head and it will help you get it published. This book reads like a gentle, helpful friend who has already done what you want to do and who is willing to sit with you and hold your hand while you accomplish your goals.

Well worth the time and money!

Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Wiley Books for Writers Series) Feature

• ISBN13: 9780471037392
• Condition: USED – VERY GOOD
• Notes:

Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Wiley Books for Writers Series) Overview

“If you follow only a third of Jean’s advice, you’ll have a successful book.” —Jeremy Tarcher, Publisher Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc.

“After Jean reworked my first draft, paperback rights sold for 7,000.” —Timmen Cermak, M.D., author of A Time to Heal: The Road to Recovery for Adult Children of Alcoholics

Mastering the craft and understanding the mechanics of writing self-help and how-to books is the key to getting publishers to take notice of your work. Now, in the first guide to writing self-help and how-to books, Jean Stine offers an insider’s view of this growing genre. Her easy-to-follow program takes you step-by-step through the complete writing process. You’ll learn the importance of:

• Structure and Style
• Clear, easy-to-understand exercises
• Creating catchy and compelling titles, subtitles, and chapter headings
• Using lists, charts, and graphs to maximum effect
• Checklists and other interactive elements
• Writing a proposal that sells
• Negotiating permissions for quotations, photos, and illustrations
• Preparing your manuscript for presentation to a publisher

Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Wiley Books for Writers Series) Specifications

Jean Marie Stine has created perhaps the ultimate how-to book: Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books. Among the many editorial positions Stine has held in her 15 years as an editor (and sometimes ghostwriter) of self-help and how-to books is editor in chief at the esteemed self-help publisher Jeremy P. Tarcher. She edited more than 50 self-help titles, including Women Who Love Too Much and Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. If an author’s qualifications, as Stine says in her book, are of utmost importance for a book’s credibility, she is supremely qualified to write such a book.

Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books is less about writing than about every other element that goes into making a successful self-help/how-to book. Since “publishers,” as Stine says here, “buy 90 percent of their books based on proposals,” she addresses in detail every element of the book proposal, from overview (“mak[e] your book sound like a must-have”) and analysis of the competition to sample chapter and annotated table of contents. Her insider information on everything from title creation–”the right title alone,” she confides, “can make your book a success”–to the importance of including interactive elements such as checklists, quizzes, and exercises is invaluable. Still, for the beginning writer–and Stine seems to assume that the reader of this book is an expert in a field other than writing–there is surprising little, given the book’s title, about the writing process itself. –Jane Steinberg

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We all love tender stories. Some love to sigh and sink deeper into their soft armchairs, others love a good cry. Think of best-selling authors who have that ability: Nicholas Sparks, Francine Rivers, and Janette Oke. Their characters are so real and have such deep needs that we can’t help but lose ourselves within the pages of their books.

But where does that ability come from? Some writers have a natural gift for this kind of writing, but others must develop it. Either way, creating heartfelt prose is a skill that most fledgling writers can discover and strengthen over time.

Here is the key: Writers who stir our hearts are brave enough to reach into the hurting corners of their own souls. Instead of shying away from the pain, they explore it and embrace it and articulate it in great detail. Every aspiring writer would love to have such a soul connection to their readers, but they don’t have the courage to go where you have to go in order to have that happen.

Many times I’ve wept as my fingers swept across the keyboard, yet those pieces are the best I’ve ever written. It is from our own pain that we have a chance to reach other hurting souls who need so desperately to hear from us. (2 Corinthians 1:4) Every one of us has places in our hearts that only God can comfort. What amazing joy it brings when He allows us to share that comfort with others-people we will never meet and yet we can move so profoundly.

What hurting corner can you explore in your next story?

And now I’d like to invite you to visit my blog with more writing tips and marketing know how at http://RoseyDowToday.com

Rosey Dow is CEO of ChristianFictionMentors.com – [http://christianfictionmentors.com]

Writing for Real: Strategies for Engaging Adolescent Writers Review

Writing for Real: Strategies for Engaging Adolescent Writers Overview

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The Writer’s Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing – Volume 2 – Review

I was seventeen.
I found the book on my grandmother’s shelf. And I couldn’t put it down.
In retrospect, it was probably no better than other books on writing, but it dealt with things I was interested in — are writers born or made, transitions, revisions, the importance of reading (actually, everybody’s got their own opinion on that), characterization and viewpoint. Now, it’s not that I hadn’t already heard or known some of this stuff, but it was just what I needed. Authors opinions and struggles, sympathy and even occasional rants. The thing was, although I was less experienced, I knew a lot of the same things in my bones, and it was good to have them confirmed.
Another thing was that sometimes the authors disagreed! This is good to know, because when you read a book by one author, if he says something that just doesn’t work for you, you think there’s something wrong with you. But when you see equally sucessful authors disagreeing over things (outlines, no outlines), it can be rather freeing. Keep in mind that it was written in the 80s so it isn’t going to be market help to you. But the advice is still pretty fresh, for the most part.
In short, I recommend this as a good read, interesting, informative, and fun (if you’re seventeen, and you find it at your grandmother’s, and you can’t put it down…)
She gave me that book, before I left. I still have it.
Trust me, it’s worth a lot more than 48 cents.

The Writer’s Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing – Volume 2 – Overview

Here’s a collection of the most helpful articles from WRITER’S DIGEST magazine covering every aspect of short story writing. Every writer, from beginner to professional, will find guidance, encouragement, and answers to such concerns as how to make characters believable, developing dialogue, writer’s block, viewpoint, the all-important use of conflict, and much more.

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The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction: Tips from Editors, Teachers, and Writers in the Field Review

I bought this book as soon as I read a review about it in “The Writer” Magazine (Dec 09, pg 44, by Amy Wallen).

In an irony to the subject, flash fiction, the introduction of this field guide is the longest chapter in the entire book, weighing-in at 26 pages. Despite its length, Ms. Misah provides the reader with an interesting history of flash fiction.

I found the essays within this guidebook to be useful and informative. Each essay ranged from 3-9 pages, which included a writing prompt and an example of flash fiction. As you could expect, the authors had some differences of opinion on what makes an effective short-short story. What they did agree on, was that each story should be thought-provoking and leave the reader with an indelible image.

I found most of the story examples, “thought provoking” alright. My usual responses were, “huh?” or even, “What was that all about?”

I guess I’m not the literary type. I’m not into deciphering an author’s meaning and images in his or her story.

My favorite was “Inside Job” by Pamela Painter. In this flash–(warning! Plot spoiler ahead!)–a university couple are attending a party. After noticing her husband hit on another one of his graduate students, Marla goes into the kitchen to grab a drink, but accidently douses her blouse with seltzer water. One of Marla’s graduate students tries to help dab off the water and she guides his hand–underneath her blouse.

Whew!

Talk about an “indelible image!”

I rate this book a solid four stars. This is more out of personal bias. With the exception of “Inside Job,” it’s hard for me to get excited over a how-to book. However, for anyone interested in writing flash fiction, or improving their craft in this niche-genre, this is an invaluable guide.

The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction: Tips from Editors, Teachers, and Writers in the Field Overview

With its unprecedented gathering of 25 brief essays by experts in the field, The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction meets the growing need for a concise yet creative exploration of the re-emerging genre popularly known as flash fiction. The book’s introduction provides, for the first time, a comprehensive history of the short short story, from its early roots and hitherto unknown early publications and appearances, to its current state and practice. This guide is a must for anyone in the field of short fiction who teaches, writes, and is interested in its genesis and practice.

Featuring essays by: Steve Almond, Rusty Barnes, Randall Brown, Mark Budman, Stace Budzko, Robert Olen Butler, Ron Carlson, Pamelyn Casto, Kim Chinquee, Stuart Dybek, Pia Z. Ehrhardt, Sherrie Flick, Vanessa Gebbie, Tom Hazuka, Nathan Leslie, Michael Martone, Julio Ortega, Pamela Painter, Jayne Anne Phillips, Jennifer Pieroni, Shouhua Qi, Bruce Holland Rogers, Robert Shapard, Deb Olin Unferth, Lex Williford

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The Only Grant-Writing Book You’ll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers and Grant Givers Share Their Secrets (Only Grant-Writing Book You’ll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers &) Review

As a new grant writer, I am really enjoying this book and it’s my favorite thus far. I really loved the fact that it is current and talks about the economy downturn and how it affects potential funding. Another reason I like this is book is that it gave actual testimonies of funders and their likes/dislikes. Great book for grant writers!!!

The Only Grant-Writing Book You’ll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers and Grant Givers Share Their Secrets (Only Grant-Writing Book You’ll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers &) Feature

• ISBN13: 9780465018697
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

The Only Grant-Writing Book You’ll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers and Grant Givers Share Their Secrets (Only Grant-Writing Book You’ll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers &) Overview

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