Writing Effective Sales Messages

A sales letter is a document designed to generate sales. It is a distinctive type of persuasive letter. It persuades the reader to place an order, to request additional information, or to lend support to the product or service or cause being offered. For most sectors other than retail, a sales letter is the first and most important way of reaching new customers. The purpose in writing a sales message is to sell a product. It influences the reader to take a specific action by making an offer-not an announcement-to him. Sales letter attempts to persuade readers to spend their time and money on the value being offered. To sell, the sales letter must be specific, go to the right audience, appeal to the readers needs, and it must be informative.

Before writing the sales letter you need to plan about the type of sale campaign that you will conduct. Whether you will send a letter only or will you include brochures, reply forms, special inserts, samples, response cards etc.? How do you plan to market the product or service? Through the Internet, direct mail, email, direct sales, print advertising, etc.? Do you need other advertising or literature to support the sales letter? Who is your competition? How are they marketing this product or service? What is your advertising budget? Are your marketing hopes realistic? Another important decision is to determine the specific purpose of your letter. Whether you want your reader to call for a free video, presentation or demonstration? Or you want your reader to fill out an order form? For these you need to know and analyze your audience and the purpose for writing. Try to form a mental image of the typical buyer for the product you wish to sell. Ask yourself:

o Who is your prospective buyer?

o What motivates a person to buy this item?

o What might the reader want to know about this product?

o What does the product or service do for the one who needs it?

o What can the reader gain from buying it?

o What is unique selling point of the product or service?

o Does your offer appeal to the reader?

o Can you transform him from prospect to buyer?

A sales letter is one of the important instruments of sales promotion. The principles of effective sales letter depends on your communication skill and your ability to convince your reader to accept or act on your recommendations. You may be promoting a product, a service or an idea; your sales letter should catch the reader's attention, build interest, and motivate him to buy the product or service offered. A good sales letter should possess the following qualities:

Emphasize good looks

Design your document for visual impact. Make it easy to navigate so your reader reaches for it first-ahead of the competition's. You can create professional-looking templates for your sales letter that use your company logo, branding and colors.

'You' Attitude

The most effective word in a sales letter is "you". Never begin a letter with "I" because chances are the reader won't get to the second word. It all comes down to selling benefits - your prospects are not interested in the features of your products services, but in what how your products or services can benefit them. Then it must build a reader's trust. It should make generous use of "you" and "your" - so it is clear the customer's needs come first, not your desire to sell something.

Use bullets

The body of your letter should contain key points, shown by bullets. Use bullets because it makes the letter easy to read. As the writer or seller, you benefit by immediately pointing your reader in the direction of the important points you want to make.

Keep your letter brief

It's rare that someone is going to read anything past the first page, so keep your letter to one page. Staying at one page will also force you to be to the point, since a wordy letter is an ineffective letter.

Use statistics

Using statistics shows that you understand the issues of their business, while demonstrating that your product or service can solve a problem. It also gives your prospect a reason to support your product or service within the company.

Show your prospect's needs

Your sales letter is a very brief sales proposal, so you need to show that you are thinking about your prospect's needs. You might be hesitant to put your best ideas in your letter, fearing that your prospect will use them but not hire your company. That's a mistake. By putting your ideas in your letter, you will make your prospects feel like they are getting something already, and that they will benefit from your products or services. More importantly, you will be demonstrating that you are creative and have your client's best interests in mind.

Use right tone

Use the right tone in your writing. Use active voice. Use the present tense. Be positive. Avoid negatives. Keep sentences and paragraphs short.

Proof read

Proof read your letter before you send it out. This will help you determine if your letter is clear and if you're getting your point across. Also, misspelled word or other careless mistake will give bad impression to the reader.

One of the most effective strategies to plan and write effective sales letter is to follow the four steps in your letter which are:

o Catch attention

o Build interest

o Establish credibility

o Motivate action

Catch attention

To be effective, a sales letter must catch reader's attention. Design your document for visual impact to catch the reader's attention by using graphics such as layout, colour scheme or illustrations. You can grab attention with an eye-catching headline or an interesting opening. This might be a question or statement. The opening should be short, honest, relevant, interesting and stimulating. Keep it quite general to appeal to as many people as possible. There are many possibilities for opening your sales letter that could persuade the reader to buy. Make a compelling promise for the reader, tell a story that the reader can identify with, make an announcement of a new product or service showcasing your unique selling point or ask a question.

The headline encourages your prospects and leads them to your next line. There you start to build their interest and ensure they read the next sentence and each subsequent one.

Build interest

Besides a powerful headline, your sales letter must have an immediate clear benefit for the intended audience. To build interest in your sales message you should highlight your product's central selling point, the single point around which you will build your sales message. Be upfront and bold about promising a prize or a tangible reward in exchange for time and attention. Whatever product or service you are selling you need to position it so that its benefits provide one or more of the following common desires:

- To make or save money

- To be healthy

- To be popular or to maintain a social status

- To have security

- To have free time or save labour

- To get entertainment, comfort or amusement

- To take advantage of opportunities

- To be good looking

- To achieve inner peace

Show them how your product will benefit them in making their lives better, safer or easier. How will it save them time, trouble, worry or money? Look at their ultimate goal and relate it to that. Why should they buy from you?

For example, state what makes you an expert in your chosen field. How can you prove what you are claiming is true? Once you have listed down the key benefits of the service or product and positioned yourself as the person to deliver it, the time is right to deliver your sales pitch. Persuade your reader to buy based on the grounds of what the product or service does for him or her (benefit), not what the product or service is (feature)!

A benefit is what the product or service does, and what the buyer gains from the feature. A benefit is the specific outcome of the feature. A feature is something the product or service already has. Benefits are what motivate people to buy. Bullet point each benefit to make it easier to read. Think about every possible benefit your reader may derive from your product or service. In many cases, people will buy a product or service based on only one of the benefits you list.

Besides the benefit stated at the letter's opening, you can bolster interest by adding high-profile testimonials from associates or former clients. Testimonials from happy customers are very useful for this purpose, as are quotes from established third parties such as industry leaders or reputable specialists. Opinions, figures and independent statistics are also likely to reinforce your message. Ultimate motivations are what people "really" want. The product or service is just a vehicle to providing these benefits so make sure your sales letter focuses on these motivational factors.

Establish credibility

You need to establish credibility and be believable by the second paragraph. You must anticipate the reader's objections and doubts and offer counter arguments. There are several ways of overcoming reader's doubts which must be used with good judgment and should be related with the main appeal of the letter. You can provide testimonials, money-back guarantees, trial offers, attractive warranties or free samples. Using too many points to establish credibility will not be effective. To gain credibility for you and your request, present just one fact, strengthened, if necessary, by an opinion or fact as a proof.

Motivate action

It's important to remember that people are motivated to buy based on their emotions and justify their purchase based on logic only after the sale. This means that each step in the sales letter process must build on the reader's emotions to a point where they are motivated to take action. Encourage the reader to act by an easy and clear method of responding. Close with summarizing the central selling point and clear instructions for an easy action to be taken. To motivate, you can offer a gift, limit the offer, guarantee satisfaction, or promise an incentive.

End with an action: What result do you want from your letter? Are you looking to get a face-to-face appointment? Are you answering questions raised at a previous meeting? Do you want to make your prospect better informed? Do you need to get a signed contract? You need to close your letter by requesting a specific, quantifiable action. For example: "I will call you on Thursday, May 18 at 10 a.m. to schedule meeting" or "Please return the enclosed contract by Friday, April 21, or call me if you have any other questions".

WRITING A SALES LETTER:

Like any other business letter, a sales letter has three parts - introduction, the body of the letter and the concluding paragraph. Let us examine in detail how to draft these three components of a sales letter. The important thing in a sales letter is the sequence which is as following:

Introduction

Body of the letter

Conclusion

Introduction

The introductory paragraph of a sales letter starts with an opening sentence which has a vital role to play. In many instances, the opening sentence is the only sentence that is read, so it must immediately appeal to reader's interests. There are several ways of writing an opening sentence in a sales letter, some of them are listed here with the examples:

A provocative question: What would the leaning tower fall for? The leaning tower of Pisa would only be put to shame by architectural splendor that outshines its own like the new range of luxury bathroom accessories.

What can you get these days for Rs. 15? Enjoy the finest that life has to offer just for Rs. 15 every month!

A striking information: We are the Number 1! We are the number 1 in revenue, customer base and customer satisfaction.

A story or an anecdote: Mr. Bala went shopping with his saving with our VISA credit card. What will you do with yours? Our credit card offers 5% bonus savings on all purchases for first six months.

A significant fact: Hearing Loss - you may not be aware of... Only about 25% of people who need hearing aid use them.

Most people have a vocabulary of 2-3,000 words and even a scholar uses no more then 5-6,000 words in his daily life. But there are around 500,000 words in English language and you can use many of them to enrich your vocabulary by using our 'Vocabulary Builder'.

Split opening: You know English, but are you quite fluent in it? It may sound incredible but classrooms can't help you achieve fluency. No, they can't. No! Nor can audio video sessions. Nor translation. But 'Rapid English Fluency' can help you.

A conditional sequence: If home is where the most number of accidents take place, think of Woodcoat Paint as insurance.

Special offers: Free gifts! Yours for giving the digest as a gift this Puja and Diwali - free diary for the year 2005 whether you order several subscriptions or just one will receive this big, handy year 2005 desk diary free.

Wings to give your children's career a head start! Avail the special offer of financial assistance for spectrum of educational opportunities in India and abroad.

Body of the letter

You may have a lead paragraph in the body of the letter. This part of the sales letter can be used to expand the promise made in the headline or used to deliver a second major benefit of the product or service. A sub-headline can also be used as the second part, to answer a question posed in the headline. For example, Part 1 could say: "Want to learn Kannada in 30 days?" Part 2 could say: "Well, here's how to . . ."

In the body of the sales letter you will begin to offer proof. You expand the theme, fill in details, offer proof, and show how you plan to fulfill the promise you made in the headline. Here, you give details of your unique selling point. You continue talking about the benefits and offer proof of the claim you made early. You share the details of the benefits. Prove your claim or statements by facts, logic or testimony. There are several ways of doing so, choose one that suits your products best. Following are some examples:

Trial offers: Get on the fitness trail! Enjoy our free offer to use our machine in comfort of your house for a week. If you are not satisfied we will take it back, no questions asked.

Guarantees: Guarantee of satisfaction

You always come first with us and your complete satisfaction is our prime concern. If you are not delighted with our product you may return it anytime for 100 % refund.

Free samples: To enable you to see for yourself how convenient it is to handle closet organizers, we are sending you a free sample.

Testimonials: Ritu Sharma, Bangalore: "How the web changed my world! It can change yours too. The Sify internet connectivity provided me the ability to communicate with people all over the planet and gave me access to information all around the world."

You need to explain the qualities of your product and its special features and convince your reader that your claims are true. Remember, by the end of the body, the goal is to create an emotional response that will cause the reader to do what you are now going to tell him to do.

Closing:

In the closing part of your sales letter your goal is to motivate action. Recapitulate your points and make a final appeal. You may give a limited time offer, or limited quantity offer or special bargain etc. Use a Post Script. For example, "If you order before March 1, we will include a free . . ." Or "Money back guaranteed . . ." Or "Discount is good until . . ." If you ask the reader to order, support, or to contact you for the specified reason you must make it easy for him to reply. Support the sales letter with a post card or an order form. If appropriate, supply a toll free telephone number, an Email link, and or your URL. Always close with a thank you and use a signature at the end of the letter. Save one of the best points for last.

Anubha Singh is Professor of English Language and Communication at Alliance Business Academy, Bangalore, India. Her main research interests include a variety of linguistic theories in the areas of language variation and change, phonetics, sociolinguistics, as well as applications areas in corporate communication, marketing communication and human resources.

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Writing the Perfect Sales Letter

Before you actually write the e-book we are going to write the sales letter first. Now I suggest you write it in Microsoft Word and save it. Then we can transfer it to the main "Sales site Page" when we are designing our basic site in step 5

The main reason we are writing our sales copy before we ever write a word in our e-Book is because it hasn't actually being created yet, which means there is absolutely no limit what you can write in your sales letter. The sales letter doesn't fit the e-Book; it's the other way around.

Now you can describe exactly what your e-Book will show to the potential customer. There are no restrictions on what you can write in the sales letter. When the sales letter is completed you can then incorporate all the ideas you have come up with into your e-Book

Your sales copy must do the following three things

o Get the attention of the prospects

o Communicate the benefits of the product

o Persuade the prospects into the desired action

Remember the most important part of your page design is your actual sales copy. A fancy website and graphics help but the key is in the words used

Sales letter Structure

o Header/Title

o Promises

o Testimonial

o Info product

o Benefit

o Bonuses

o Guarantee

o Summary

This is the structure that you should use for your sales copy. If you check out the best sales letter they will all follow this formula?

Header

The main function of the header/title is to grab the reader's attention. The header should be displayed in a large, bold font. This demands your

potential customer's attention and intrigues them to read further on. Include your logo or e-Book cover (discussed later on) close to the header. If you header is not well designed you run the risk of losing the potential customer straight away. Spend time creating your header.

A Promise

This section promises the potential customer a huge benefit which is almost too good to be true. It's ok if it's a bit too unbelievable the testimonials will take care of that. Here is an example of such a headline

Discover how my 5 step affiliate programme can increase your income by 10,000 a month

Testimonials

In this section you include testimonials that old/new customers have sent you about your product or service. You probably don't have any customers yet so email some potential ones your e-book for free in exchange for a testimonial. When you do start selling you can always ask a new customer for one.

Now the testimonials page has assured the potential customer that you can fulfil the promises you made in your header also you have gained a bit of trust from your potential customers so anything else you say that follows the testimonials page will be taken as true. This is the reason why the testimonial is placed at the top to gain trust right away where if it was placed at the bottom after presenting some good sales copy it may be already too late.

Info and product

In this section you will give info on what your product or service is about. You should show your customers a list of problems in this area. Agree with the customers, on how frustrating these problems can be and how

you, yourself dealt with these problems. The key is to show the person that you have a deep understanding in this area and you are an expert on

the subject. That is very important.

Next you must introduce your product as the solution to the problem. Then you must have a proper e-Book cover design. This is crucial. Many people have never purchased an e-book so you must give them some idea what exactly they will be purchasing

Benefit

This section is basically telling your potential customer of the benefits they will receive from purchasing your product. Show your potential customers the enjoyment they will get from using the product. Give them as much information on your product as you can. Use bullet points to emphasize the benefits. Put in another testimonial just to remind the person that it's all true. Keeping their trust is highly important.

Bonuses

This is a powerful tactic used to increase sales. Including free bonuses with the purchase of your e-Book will increase the perceived value of the e-Book. Also a deadline on bonuses is also a good way to speed up consumer purchases. Bonuses also reduce the risk of money back returns

Guarantee

Offering a guarantee to your potential customers takes the risk off their shoulders. A good guarantee is the final bit in the jigsaw that will make the person finally purchase the product. The agreement is such that if the customer is not happy with their purchases then can get a full refund. You must remember that lots of your potential customers will be "first timers" therefore a guarantee puts their minds at ease. Guarantees can be 30 day, 60 day, or lifetime; however such guarantees must be backed up with an exceptional product.

Summary

This is one of the most important steps in the sales letter; this is where you close the sale. In this section you must include your most appealing benefit and finally ask for the order, because if you don't they wont. Finally make it easier for them to order like an "order now" button shown below.

At this stage you should start to write your sales letter in Microsoft word we will concentrate on the html design and implementing the sales letter in it in section six but for now just concern yourself with writing your sales letter. To help you here are some of the web's top e-book publishers sales sites. You can check out my own sales page at

http://www.ebookprofitmaker.com

Sales Letter generator

Ok ill now offer you an alternative to writing the sales page yourself. Only use this if you are willing to spend some money. You may want to check out this piece of software that actually writes the sales letter for you. All you do is answer the questions it asks and you will receive your sales letter. You can find this software at sales generator here

Credit card Transactions

Finally you will need to find a credit card processor later on so your e-Books can be ordered. The one I seriously recommend is Clickbank. Ill go into them in more detail in section 6 but for now I want you to know that all these company's, including Clickbank, have a set of rules that you must abide by to use their software. Don't panic ill go through these rules now. Basically it involves putting a certain amount of details in your sales letter and product delivery page so you can be accepted by your credit transaction company. So here they are:

You must provide on your sales page:

o Detailed description of your product

o Buy now link

o Explain how the product will be delivered

o Mention how long the delivery will take

*remember theses are rules not suggestions

So that is everything you need to know on how to write your sales letter, before we move on to step 3 lets summarize what we need to do to write the perfect sales letter

We need to:

o Write the sales letter before the e-Book

o Sales letter structure must have , header, promise, Testimonial, info and product, benefit, bonuses, guarantee and summary

o You can have your sales letter made by Sales letter generator

o Certain set of rules should be included in the sales letter for

the purpose of the credit card transaction company

David Hennebery is the owner and creator of a very successful ebook called ebookprofitmaker. He is regarded as an expert in eBook marketing and selling. To contact him email support@ebookprofitmaker.com or http://www.ebookprofitmaker.com/articleoffer.html

You can start with a few dollars and a good idea to make lots of money online writing and selling your own ebook! I did and I?ll show you how. To find out more and receive a 35% discount on my new eBook for reading my article visit http://www.ebookprofitmaker.com/articleoffer.html

**Attention ezine editors/site owners** Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your website so long as you leave the links in place,do not modify the content and include our resource box as listed above

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Writing About Literature - Foiled Again & Again in "The Lord of the Rings"

Whether it's a short story or a novel or something in-between, what's THE most important thing about any story-do you know?

Well, here it is-

By the end, something important has to change---or there's no story

Makes sense, doesn't it? Intuitively, you know that's true, don't you, just as most people do.

In absolutely every published story, what changes at the end always relates to some value stated early on in the story, either by or about the main character. And that early value statement is always a strong evaluation or description concerning a trait, characteristic, goal, problem, or desire related to the main character. That's what I call the old view. The change at the end I call the new view, which is always a reverse of the old view at the beginning.

With that one principle, you can make sense of the major factors in literally every story ever written and published. And you don't have to bring in a bunch of literary devices to prove your point, either.

However, you should know that there's a major difference between a short story and a long story, or novel. In a short story, the major support of the old view/new view relationship is the description of the main character, often having to do with descriptions of their feelings, thoughts, talk, and actions, though a physical description can be powerfully supportive, too.

But in a novel, the major support of the old view/new view relationship in the story is the use of foils. A foil is a character in a story who serves as a contrast to another character. Often, the contrast is with the main character or one of the other primary characters. And the contrast serves to highlight specific traits of the other character that reinforce the old view/new view relationship. Foils are major factors in novels because they take much longer to develop, and short stories just don't have the space or time to develop them.

Now, J.R.R. Tolkien's novel, The Lord of the Rings, is just bursting at the seams with foils or contrasts between characters, so let's discuss how a few of those foils are used to support the main character and the old view/new view relationship.

First, let's identify the old view strong value statements that are given near the beginning of the story, when Gandalf has a long discussion with Frodo and tells him the true nature of the Ring he has inherited from Bilbo:

Frodo has no pity for Gollum and declares vehemently that Gollum "deserves death."
Frodo strongly disagrees with Gandalf about his having the "strength and heart and wits" to deal with the Ring, and he objects very self-pityingly to being stuck with it.
Frodo wants very much to destroy the Ring, though he'd rather have it destroyed by someone else.
The first two old views get reversed throughout the middle of the story, even before the end: Frodo constantly protects Gollum from others, as he guides Frodo and Sam into Mordor; and Frodo shows fairly consistently that he has the "strength and heart and wits" to deal with Boromir, Gollum, Sam, Faramir, and even Sauron, though he does make a few mistakes.

But when Frodo gets to Mount Doom in Mordor to throw the Ring into the fire and destroy it, he changes his mind and decides to keep the Ring. That is a complete turnaround, a pure reversal of the third old view value statement we identified, above.

Okay, now we're ready to identify contrasting characters, or foils, and show how they relate to the main character and the reversal new view at the end of the story.

Here's a list of six foils or contrasts (out of about forty in the story):

Frodo & Gollum
Frodo & Gandalf
Gandalf & Saruman
Saruman & Denethor
Denethor & Theoden
Faramir & Boromir
Let's examine these contrasts or foils.

Frodo & Gollum - Both are jealous of possessing the ring. But many differences are readily apparent, such as Frodo being concerned for the welfare of others, while Gollum was concerned only for himself and loving only the Ring.

Perhaps the major difference between Frodo and Gollum is that Frodo is intent on destroying the Ring for the sake of all decent beings, while Gollum is intent on obtaining the Ring only for his own delight in possessing it. This difference is crucial for setting up the reversal at Orodruin, the Fire-mountain in Mordor, where Frodo does his turnabout and declares he will not destroy the Ring, which he has been working toward all along.

Fortunately, in another unexpected reversal, Gollum becomes the one to destroy the Ring he loves so much when he accidentally falls into the fires of Mount Doom after stealing the Ring from Frodo.

Frodo & Gandalf - The differences are readily apparent: Frodo is weak and not very wise, while Gandalf is both very powerful and very, very wise. Near the beginning of the story, Frodo asks Gandalf to take the ring because of his superior power and wisdom, but Gandalf declines because he knows that the Ring would quickly overcome him due to his desire to help the weak who are in need, out of pity.

On the other hand, Gandalf points out that weak Frodo has a special kind of hobbit strength to deal with the Ring, such as hobbits generally seem to have, which is being "soft as butter... and yet sometimes as tough as tree-roots... some would resist the Rings far longer than most of the Wise would believe."

However, as Gandalf also points out, the One Ring is so powerful that "in the end it would overcome anyone of mortal race who possessed it. It would possess him." That statement proves prophetic, as in the end the Ring does overpower Frodo and causes his reversal of deciding to keep the Ring for himself and not destroy it.

Gandalf & Saruman - Though both are powerful and wise wizards and both began as good men, Saruman turns evil and desires power over other creatures. We find out why when it is revealed that Saruman has been using one of the palantir seeing-communicating globes, which Sauron used to corrupt Saruman. This contrast between Saruman and Gandalf can easily be extended to contrast with Frodo, who had the powerful One Ring for many years and was not corrupted by it.

Saruman & Denethor - Both are wise and strong, though Denethor is not a wizard. Yet they both used a palantir and both were thereby bent and overcome by association with Sauron's evil mind. Again, the contrast with Frodo's incorruptibility can easily be seen --- until the very end, of course, when he, too, is overcome by evil power.

Denethor & Theoden - Both are rulers of their own nations, and both have become weakened and overcome by the mind of an evil being. In Theoden's case, it was Wormtongue. The difference between Denethor and Theoden was that Theoden accepted help and wise counsel from Gandalf, while Denethor pridefully rejected Gandalf's counsel and help. Frodo, too, accepted Gandalf's help and counsel, mostly, and thereby avoided ensnarement by the enemy --- until at the very last when the power of the Ring finally overcomes him.

Faramir & Boromir - As brothers and as sons of Denethor, Steward of Gondor, both had reason to covet the One Ring entrusted to Frodo as a means to aid their father and their beloved city-nation of Gondor. Because of his pride, Boromir gave in to his lust for the power of the Ring, while Faramir had an even better opportunity of taking it from Frodo, but didn't. As a past student of Gandalf, Faramir was able to resist the lust for power. Like Faramir, Frodo had the benefit of counsel and friendship with Gandalf, which probably was a contributing factor in his resisting the Ring until at the very last, when he succumbed to it.

So the foils or contrasts in the story establish a consistent pattern that allows us to make this generalization, which fits nicely with the old view/new view pattern of the story:

As shown by the foils or contrasts in Tolkien's novel, The Lord of the Rings, the more you associate with evil or lust for power, the more likely it will corrupt and overcome you. Evil power overcame all those who willingly associated with it, even Frodo, though he lasted much longer in resisting it than others who should have been stronger.

Now you have a great thesis statement for your literary essay, as well as lots of support for it --- all courtesy of applying the literary device of foils to the old view/new view pattern in the story.

This article was written by Bill Drew, a writing expert who specializes in teaching how to write an essay, in both theory and practice, especially thesis writing -- with special emphasis in teaching writing about literature, as well as writing advertising and other business writing.

He is the author of The Secret DNA of Writing Essays-And Everything Else, as well as The Secret DNA of Analyzing Short Stories. The two books plus software for the first book are available at his website, at Amazon.com, and at ThoughttOffice.com.

His NewView methods are being successfully taught in elementary, middle school, and high school classes.

For further information, see the many endorsements of his books and software on the Testimonials page of his website, as well as the several Reviews on Amazon.com.

Upcoming books planned by Drew include The Secret DNA of Writing Advertising, The Secret DNA of Analyzing Novels, The Secret DNA of School Writing, with Lesson Plans, The Secret DNA of Shakespeare's Plays, The Secret DNA of Communication, The Secret DNA of Education and Teaching, The Secret DNA of Hemingway's Writing, The Secret DNA of Introductions and Conclusions, The Secret DNA of Topic Sentences and Paragraph Development, and many more to come in the Secret DNA series.

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Creative Writing - Literature

Whenever you write anything, it is most important to transmit a message to your readers because this is what gives value to your work.

If you write several beautiful words but actually convey nothing, your work will only entertain someone for a while, but it will be forgotten as soon as the reader finishes reading it. Thus, your purpose as an author is to make people think about your words and feel what you are trying to express.

If you don't have a specific message in mind to give to the reader, you better define it before starting to write, even if you think you work better when you are free of a predecided plot and you can develop it somehow your text, to only then define your message.

Define the message and name your document according to your intention. Try to respect your purpose, but if while writing you see that you have developed or presented points that don't really fit in with the title you gave to the document and with your initial plot, change the title and the message that you will give to the reader.

You have to start having a defined purpose in mind; otherwise, you will write several sentences without meaning or try to give them a meaning only in the end. This way, your document will be of poor quality, while it has to be strong and meaningful to attract the readers' attention and to remain in their minds.

If your words are well expressed and wise, your readers will remember them for a long time. This must always be your intention if you want to be considered a really good writer.

Now, let's suppose that you don't know exactly what to write about, but you have only a vague notion. Start writing; write a lot, whatever appears in your mind, even if you don't think it's good. Keep writing as much as you can about a certain subject. Then, stop writing and read everything. Select the best sentences and phrases and start writing a new document with them, defining the general meaning you wish to give to the reader according to the meaning of the selected sentences.

On creative writing you have to focus on conveying a feeling to your readers and when you write serious documents, you only need to convey a logical message.

You can elicit feelings by letting the reader complete your sentences, instead of writing everything you would say. For example, you want to say:

"The girl opened the door and entered in the bedroom, where the window was open and she could see the city's port".

You don't need to say everything in detail if you are writing a work of literature. You can say: "She opened it and entered. The city's port was visible from there".

This way, you let the readers use their imagination to complete the scene and, at the same time, you convey a feeling, because you don't give them a concrete and limited description. They are transported to the place you describe; they enter into the hero's place and pretend they are doing what the hero is doing in your text. This way, they complete the missing words based on their imagination.

There are many techniques you can use in creative writing to give emphasis to your words or to cause several sensations.

The important point is that you must give your readers a message that will remain in their minds and elicit feelings that will invade their hearts for some moments when they read your work.

Prevent Depression and Craziness through the scientific method of Dream Interpretation discovered by Carl Jung and simplified by Christina Sponias, a writer who continued Jung's research in the unknown region of the human psychic sphere.

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Is Science Fiction Writing Necessarily Not Serious Literature?

I love writing. I love writing science fiction. I also love to read.

There, I said it. The horrible truth, out in the open on the first line! Clearly this author knows nothing about suspense. What more could be expected from a science fiction writer?

To be slightly more serious for a second, I do indeed love writing. What I dislike are small minded people who think that writing should only occur in a particular way, in a particular genre, style or voice. For example, "expert book reviewers" who tell me a book is bad because of the author's style, or that science fiction (SF) is puerile.

Apart from the obvious considerations of spelling, grammar and punctuation, an author has a massive degree of freedom in how their thoughts reach the reader. Sometimes even these minimal rules are deliberately broken in order to tell the tale.

Of course, a writer wants his work to be read, but it is also about making an emotional connection with the reader. The form writing takes can be formal, like Dickens, or truly unique and free-flowing as in the case of Joyce's Ulysses. What really matters is the connection or, if you prefer, the emotional communication. If there is no emotional connection then you could just as well be reading a telephone directory. If science fiction writing can effectively form this connection with the reader then how can it be judged as "poor literature"?

How much poorer the world of literature would be without Joyce, Dylan Thomas, Wordsworth or Shakespeare. By the same token how much poorer also if there were no Asimov, Heinlein, Niven or Banks. This loss would surely be most severely felt in the world of ideas.

Science fiction is the world of ideas. It is the result of looking at the world and asking, "What if?"

Sometimes these ideas have changed the world: Star Trek's Communicators, once thought impossible, are now commonplace as mobile phones. On the darker side, the movie Aliens showed us robotic guns, power-assisted exoskeletons and various forms of scanners and image-enhancement technology. All of these things are now quite current and accepted in today's world.

With such power to change the world, should science fiction really be seen as the poor relation to "serious literature"?

Sometimes science fiction is not so much about the gadgets, but more about the sociology. Here SF gives the author the ability to explore a world that is different, yet uncannily like our own. Here too there are many notable works: H.G.Wells and The Time Machine as well as War of the Worlds can both be seen as social commentary. His lesser known short story, Tono-Bungay, satirises the advertising of the day and arguably predicted the atom bomb. Wells is of course just one author, but others could included here such as George Orwell (1984) or Aldous Huxley (Brave New World).

So what of the science fiction of the future?

Increasingly the gap between science fiction and science fact is narrowing. People talk seriously about a technological singularity in our near future, in which artificial intelligence will become a fact. With the current rate of improvement in computer data storage and processing power, who really knows?

Sadly, science fiction has not yet shown us a solution for the problems of today's world, but perhaps the book or movie that hints toward that solution is just around the corner.

Dave Felton is a forty something writer wannabe. Although I write a short stories, blog extensively, post widely on the web and am currently writing another novel, I consider myself a "wannabe" as that first published novel still eludes me. Until that day comes you might want to look up my personal blog at http://djfelton.com

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Tapestry in Literature and Creative Writing

The combination of the decorative arts with literature and creative writing has led to many classical stories and novels themed around a painting or artifact. Others have used tapestry as metaphor to imply a weaving of a tale, and using tapestry to theme a story has strengthened the power that tapestry has of telling a legend or story through a magnificent tableau. When we think of what it is about tapestry that inspires those to write and use the craft in literature there is the weaving element of words being spun together to form a tale. There may of course be a story hidden within the stitches of a tapestry just waiting to be told or imagined and recreated. Just as the tapestry is created by fine stitchery so stories are developed through connecting ideas.

Stories Without End In The Walls

The Tapestry House was first written by Mrs Molesworth in 1879 and is centred around a small girl who lives in a house where one of the rooms is covered in tapestry. Indeed her maid says that," There are stories without end in the walls of the tapestry room". Viewing the tapestry in the moonlight sees it draped in natural beauty and with creatures coming to life. Imagine a peacock walking out of a tapestry! A magical tale is woven, firing the imagination of those who gaze at a tapestry and wonder what the picture really means.

Silk Tapestry by Patrick Atagan tells the story of an old woman, a boy and a wild spirit who combine to change the world around them in this charming Chinese folk tale. The completion of a magical tapestry is a core element to the story and enhances the mystique around antique and faded tapestries and the tale woven into the fabric.

Inspired by Tapestry

Tapestry and famous paintings have been known to inspire writers to create novels from the view they perceive. One of the more well known novels relating to tapestry is the Lady and the Unicorn by Tracey Chevalier which was inspired by the famous panels depicting the six senses and now displayed in the Cluny Museum. Each panel features the Lady and a Unicorn and is themed around a sense such as sight or hearing. The story unfolds as a Paris Nobleman commissions a set of six tapestries to impress and the young weaver, wanting a change from creating battle scenes, designs the Unicorn panels, all depicting an aspect of the six senses. Into the story is woven loves, friendships and rivalry, as well as historical research concerning the lives of dyers and weavers at the time. It is, in effect a tapestry about a tapestry.

Using a different yet powerful perspective, Marjory Agosin in her book, Tapestries of Hope, Threads of Love 1974-1994 tells the stories of countless women living in poverty and hardship in Chile under the Pinochet regime. In one of the most spectacular protests the omen created arpilleras or patchwork tapestries of everyday life, embroidering their sorrow into the fabric as they told the story of their disappeared relatives. Smuggled out of Chile these tapestries expressed the fruitless searches to the world. In a way that imparted great emotion and feeling, these stories told through tapestry recounted a very different type of narrative in a powerful and striking manner.

Tapestry as Metaphor

Tapestry implies a weaving and creation of a picture or pieces coming together to form a wider perspective. Tapestry has been used in the title of a number of crime novels and thrillers to imply a mysterious aspect. In fantasy novels tapestry is evident in titles such as the Fionavar Trilogy by Guy Gavriel Kay, perhaps implying a mysterious weaving together of ideas. Like tapestry panels such as the classical Unicorn series, a trilogy also combines a series of novels into a bigger story than can be contained in one picture or book.

Combining the Creative Arts

Writing and literature express ideas and creative imaginations. In early medieval times before the development of literacy and mass produced books tapestry was used to tell a story to the masses, such as the Bayeux Tapestries. That tapestry finds itself in literature and in storytelling is not unusual but a powerful combination of the creative arts that is more readily accessible in the age of information. Tapestry will continue to have a classical and timeless appeal and will still be an inspiration to those who wish to be creative in thought and action.

Angela Dawson-Field writes extensively on home decor and tapestry & textile art. She divides her time between family and The Tapestry House

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Why Bother With Literature? Students And Teachers And Writing In China

When I was teaching literature and writing courses at a private liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, members of the faculty were asked to prepare a statement justifying the existence of their major programs. Our vice-president at the time (there was an incredible turn-over in presidents and vice-presidents at that college) seemed to be serious about education* and directed the faculty to answer specific questions regarding the importance of what we were doing. Since I was the coordinator of the English program (a program situated in the Humanities Department which included literature, philosophy, religion, speech, film studies, and media communications), I provided answers which I felt underscored the importance of what we were doing.

I still feel that these are important issues for an English program, whether standing separately as an individual department in a large university or as a part of a humanities division in a small college. I have taught writing and literature in two private colleges, two community colleges, and one major university in the USA. Time has not, despite the current and fashionable interest in technology, eroded the importance of concentrating in writing, literature, and language studies. This belief, therefore, caused me to congratulate my students in at a level-two technological university in Anshan, China-- and in Ningbo, China, at a level-three technological university, which is associated with a level-one university in Hangzhou--for majoring in English and for taking literature courses. The reasons I have done so can be found in the answers to the questions put to me below. I have, where necessary, generalized the answers to include a scale that is more global.

A. When students finish an English Language and Literature program, they will be able to do what?

1. These students will be able to realize that literature, like any art, is not created in a vacuum but reflects the culture and times in which it was created. This will cause them not only to realize, but to show the importance of being able to communicate thoughts and ideas in a cogent form so that the authors' messages and feelings can be understood and appreciated for centuries.

2. These students will be able to write and to speak in a scholarly manner about important issues that not only exist today but have existed for centuries, from before the time of Homer to the present. They will be able to argue effectively because they will have learned how to back up opinion with research findings, which they have learned to, quote and document correctly. They will have learned how to communicate clearly and effectively so that their own ideas do not become lost or ignored.

3. These students will be able to conduct research in many fields because they have learned the correct methods of researching, documenting, and incorporating findings in research papers. Those who have studied creative writing will also be able to create their own literature; this is daring and important because it involves digging deeply into themselves and fashioning into art something that did not exist before.

B. Why should students study with you as a professor?

1. Students should study with me as a professor only if they have a thirst for knowledge and an interest in expanding their horizons, which is what education is supposed to be about.

2. Students should not be caught up in the appearance of learning, trapped only in the superficial rhetoric but should, instead, be aware of the hard work that is needed to take charge of, and take responsibility for, their own education. They should be aware of the fact that education is about life-long learning and life-skills, that it is more than mere job training and that it is not finite.

3. If students study writing with me, they should be willing to face the possibility that writing and publishing is a difficult, painful process, and that creative writing requires digging into the pain and suffering of our memories because that is usually the source of the energy required to be creative. It is an uncomfortable but necessary part of the creative process, and this takes not only honesty but also great courage.

C. Why should students study in an English Language and Literature Program? [or Department of Foreign Languages]

1. Students should study in an English Language and Literature Program because it is essential, particularly in areas of the world where writing skills are reportedly the weakest, that they be able to communicate clearly, correctly, and effectively on the level of intelligent university students and, eventually, the level of university graduates who are able to compete with graduates from universities worldwide. They would become aware of the world-wide importance of the language or vocabulary with which they communicate.

2. They should study literature as well as language in order to realize that literature reflects the times, mores, and philosophies of the authors -- that its subject can be as varied as the multiple points of everyday life, with which it is connected, not as talk show topics between covers but as serious analysis of human endeavors and foibles.

3. They would recognize and appreciate the extent of the contributions of literary figures such as William Shakespeare who utilized or created words with a genius unknown before or since his time, whose vocabulary was the largest of any known English writer, and whose First Folio of his plays gave to all speakers of English more new words than any other single source**. With this recognition and appreciation they would, hopefully, build a bridge between the past and the future so that the monumental achievements of the past are not lost in the glitz and glitter of a technology that remains in the service of a transitory, materialistic world but are maintained as a foundation for a future rich with aesthetic and intellectual possibilities.

"Among the most important developments in contemporary global culture is the arrival of Western literary criticism and literary theory in China." This statement is made by W. J. T. Mitchell in his preface to the Chinese edition of A HANDBOOK OF CRITICAL APPROACHES TO LITERATURE, printed for China by the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press - a text I am now using for seniors in Research Methods in Ningbo. He adds: "There is arguably no greater force in producing understanding between peoples than the transmission of literary traditions - the great heritage of narrative, lyric, and prose forms that give cultures their distinctive character." This is why, I believe, that more literature courses are needed in certain universities in China, not only one semester of British literature and one semester of American but two semesters of each. More important, students in all areas of studies should be exposed to world literature and mythology. When I taught literature in Anshan, I had to cram two semesters of information and small snippets from the primary literature into one semester. I complained about this, but to no avail. I tried to change textbooks but was not allowed to do so. This was when I was still naive enough to believe that students were attending the university to receive an education. Many students here in Ningbo have referred to me as a serious professor. Since I often make jokes in class, I assumed that they were not referring to a lack of sense of humor. You see, I had taken it for granted that all professors, foreign or domestic (Chinese), were serious about educating in the classroom. Boy, was I naive.

When I was an undergraduate back in a small college in Illinois (my home state or, as I like to call it, God's Country), I heard our instructor state that a college diploma should be handed out with a birth certificate. I never forgot his remark. What I would like to recommend today, therefore, is that those universities on both sides of the Pacific who are more concerned with maximizing profits than they are with providing a real education -- who intimidate professors who try to maintain intellectual standards --to take this simple step: eliminate all course work for students, charge the students and/or their beleaguered parents tuition for the equivalent of four years tuition, and hand to them the diploma. No pretenses. No false claims. Then those universities sincerely interested in educating students with real standards can hire the best professors and recruit only the serious students who really. . . really. . . really want to learn for the sake of knowledge. Then knowledge. . . not only virtue. . . becomes its own reward.

So much of literature, and so much of life, is based on the foundations of world mythology and the greatest literature that the geniuses of the mighty word have produced. This is what it means to be educated for the sake of being educated, not just trained for employment. Once we accept this, we might get back to what education and the teaching of literature is really supposed to be about.

We can then get serious.

* This "serious" vice-president later allowed students who had failed courses (one male had failed four courses in our English department and one female had failed two of mine alone) to walk across the graduation stage because, as he admitted to the faculty the next day in a meeting, he was intimidated by their parents.

**[See THE STORY OF ENGLISH: 3rd Revised Edition by

Robert McCrum, William Cran, and Robert MacNeil

New York: Penguin Book, 2002]

Charles J. Garard is a PhD in literature and film now living in Ningbo, China, where he teaches literature and writing. He taught for 17 years at a small liberal arts college in Atlanta and for two years at a university in Anshan, China. He writes about films (for EzineArticle.com and for Amazon.com) and mythology (such as his recent article about creatures in Indonesia published in a paranormal magazine) and works on his novels about time-travel, vampires, and mainstream topics. He is now working on a fictionalization of his teaching experiences in China.

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Writing Your Master's Thesis - Creating a Bibliography and Writing a Literature Review

Before you even start writing your actual master's thesis, you will need to compile a bibliography of all the research sources and materials that are relevant to your thesis topic. In addition, as part of your master's thesis, you will be required to write a literature review, which may be part of your thesis proposal or even part of your thesis itself depending on the preferences and standards followed by your academic department and your faculty advisors.

Prior to embarking on either one of these very important projects, it is vital to understand the difference between a bibliography and a literature review. A bibliography is simply a list of sources that you have consulted in the course of researching your master's thesis. In this context, "consulted" is defined very broadly. It doesn't matter whether you got a lot of information from a book or just a little. It doesn't even matter whether the information that you gleaned from a particular research source never even makes it into your thesis.

Any book or article that you looked at, even briefly, in the course of conducting research for your master thesis belongs in the bibliography. It doesn't matter whether you read the whole book or just skimmed a chapter, whether an article was helpful or added nothing to your understanding of your topic. When it comes to putting together a bibliography, you must err on the side of over-inclusiveness. Note that a bibliography is not the same as a "reference page" or a "works cited page" that you might include in a run-of-the-mill term paper. A bibliography for a master's thesis should include all relevant resources that you encountered while researching your topic, whether you actually cite them or not.

A literature review on the other hand is much more selective than a bibliography and much more difficult to put together. A bibliography, essentially, is just a list of books and articles put in standard citation form. You don't need to understand or appreciate or even to have read a source in order to include it in a bibliography. A literature review, on the other hand, is a written analysis and synthesis of the research sources that are most pertinent and helpful to your master's thesis topic. In your literature review, you will not simply list sources as you do in a bibliography.

Rather, you will discuss and analyze the importance of each source to the topic that you have chosen to write about. More than that, a well-written and well-constructed literature review does not simply list important sources and discuss their contributions to the field. In writing a literature review, you should be able to draw connections between the various sources that you discuss and analyze. In other words, it is vital that you explain for your reader how the points made and theories proposed in one research source build on or add to those found in another book or article. You should be able to identify and discuss trends and commonalities that appear in the works that you discuss in a literature review, as well as note any disagreements among scholars that are exemplified in these works.

A literature review should provide a brief history of the development of scholarship and academic theories in your chosen field, with emphasis on most recent discoveries, controversies, or proposals. After reading your literature review, your faculty advisors should come away completely informed about the state of research in your field as it stands today. With this understanding, the readers of your master thesis will be prepared to ascertain what your own research and writing has added to your chosen topic and judge the value of your work in advancing scholarship in your academic field.

Mike Shane is a self-made entrepreneur, a well known writer and consultant. His area of writing includes master thesis, dissertations, articles, and books. Every year he publishes a list of master's thesis, books and dissertations.

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Benefits of Receiving a Grant For Writing Children's Literature

I recently receive a "Jackpot Grant" from the Nevada Arts Council to attend a writing workshop presented by the Society of Children's Bookwriters and Illustrators. Having attended the conference, I realized that there were benefits, to myself and the community. In this article, I'll briefly recap some of those benefits. I'll go over some of the objectives that I submitted when I applied for the grant.

Objective 1: Improve Writing Skills and Open Creative Horizons

I attended several workshops run by Bruce Coville, who writes middle-grade fantasy novels. As a result,  I started work on a series of books that are primarily aimed at boys, with a cross over appeal to girls.
I discussed a picture book on potty training, and created a draft of it. The manuscript has been well received on the Society of Children's Bookwriters and Illustrator's Manuscript Exchange discussion forum. I am refining it, and will soon submit it for publication.

Objective 2: Establishing Networking Contacts for future projects.

I met a number of illustrators, and have established contacts with them. These may lead to future collaborations, or at least to preferred introductions to publishers. (It is possible that a well-established illustrator will suggest a manuscript that they will enjoy illustrating to a publisher.)
I met a number of writers who may be interested in writing teacher's guides to accompany my existing books.
I listened to presentations by various editors and submitted a manuscript for a children's book to a major publisher. If they do not like the manuscript, I'm confident that another publisher will like it.

Objective 3: Provide a long-term benefit for the Nevada Arts Council and for children who reside in Nevada.

I have begun a publicity campaign that will help children become more literate by using the book and CD, which contains several different languages. Since the Nevada Arts Council paid for my travel expenses to the SCBWI workshop, I will have some available to provide free copies of the book to libraries in Nevada, and fully intend to make donations. Also, the book will be made available to literacy programs.
The prestige associated with receiving a grant from the Nevada Arts Council is making it more attractive for a teacher who home schooled her child to evaluate whether she is interested in bring the book/CD/website to the attention of other home-schooling parents.
One of the illustrators that I met is enthusiastic about preparing a teacher's curriculum for my existing books.
To build self esteem in children I will launch an internet radio show where children can discuss my books and CDs with their teachers, parents and other children. I have already implemented a service that displays pictures that children draw and a service that allows them to make digital tape recordings of stories.

If you're a writer, I encourage you to apply for grants.  You may be surprised at the benefits that you, and others, receive from the process.

Alan Jordan is the author of hundreds of articles, six business books and several children's books. He is the creator of a web site with a series of products to foster creativity in children and adults. http://www.LetsBeCreative.org

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Four Authors of Classical Contemporary Literature Defined the Craft of Writing Perfect Prose

From academicians to book critics to lay readers, each is often eager to recommend a list of authors who will provide aspiring writers with a sound foundation from which to build.  Any suggestions should be revered, and it would be ridiculous for one person to state that her/his idea of quality prose is better than another's.  

However, there are four aspects of the craft of writing that many who understand literature would argue have never been better addressed:  Steinbeck's perfection with dialogue, Faulkner's depth of characterization, Hemingway's precise narrative, and Fitzgerald's palpable creation of mood.

One of the quickest ways to appreciate John Steinbeck's brilliance in the realm of dialogue is to read TORTILLA FLAT, THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT, and OF MICE AND MEN.  Accents are often hard to maintain in a novel without eventually grating on the reader, yet Steinbeck's last line of dialogue in TORTILLA FLAT is as fresh as his first.  THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT provides a perfect medium for demonstrating his range.  And it is then a simple step to OF MICE AND MEN to gain an understanding of Steinbeck's genius in the art of writing divergent dialogue at an extraordinary level.        

The mere mention of William Faulkner can cause many to quail.  But a lot of Faulkner aficionados, of which I am included in this group, feel he is unchallenged in the realm of characterization.  (As an aside, if his work is broken down to the length of his clauses, it is often much easier to appreciate his talent.)  Many erudite souls recommend ABSALOM, ABSALOM as an ideal example of why Faulkner rules the world of characterization, and one needs to read only the first paragraph in the initial chapter to realize the reason for this praise.  Another suggestion is that serious writers read THE SOUND AND THE FURY.  The characterization of Dilsey the maid is, in itself, a masterpiece.  

Hemingway's art is an example of elevating a single element of writing to such a high level that the weaker aspects of (his) prose can be ignored.  With simple words his narratives were so powerful and his depictions so poignant that he is credited with creating a unique style.  An efficient way to experience his skill is to read THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA.  What is often overlooked about Hemingway's crisp, concise style is the quality of pitch his technique enables.  His passages of perfect pitch, in themselves, can be important to analyze by anyone desiring to become a better writer.     

Mood like voice is one of those magical areas that is easy to recognize but impossible for a great many people to define.  But whatever mood happens to be, it can be experienced in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald.  In THE GREAT GATSBY, THIS SIDE OF PARADISE, and TENDER IS THE NIGHT, there is an unmistakable mood that is so sentient the reader can easily (and pleasantly) become enveloped by it.  A leading example is the opening paragraph in TENDER IS THE NIGHT, which sets the mood for the entirety of a story as well as any novel that comes to mind for many learned readers.  Whatever Fitzgerald's voice was, he found it.  And whatever mood is, he created it with exceptional flair.  

There are numerous other writing elements, and subcategories of each, that anyone serious about becoming a novelist must consider.  But for those who desire an understanding of what many regard as the four pillars necessary for developing a proficiency in writing quality prose, especially if the interest is to be published by a major royalty publisher, it is difficult to argue against venturing into the oeuvres of Steinbeck, Faulkner, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald.

Robert L. Bacon

http://theperfectwrite.com

The Perfect Write (TM) provides an affordable, easy-to-use, and 100% confidential solution for converting a letter's premise into the most effective correspondence possible.

For more information on how The Perfect Write (TM) can craft correspondence to benefit you, please contact us at http://theperfectwrite.com

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Is Blogging Changing Literature and Writing in the Present Period?

As literature and writing evolve, more and more people join the successful ranks of bloggers, online article writers, and eBook authors. Are we not sure that what we are doing here today on the Internet is not omnipotent? I believe what we write on the Internet today, will in fact, be how history judges us tomorrow.

Is Blogging changing Literature and Writing in the present period? We know that online article writers are beginning to change content on the Internet and that people spend as much time on the Internet as they do reading newspapers and watch TV combined now.

Some might believe as others have said in the past that "what we say here today will be forgotten," but will it? And will those who played a part in making history in cyber space be the ones who literally changed the face and the future of the written human culture? What say you?

The answer is indeed left for the historians and the entrepreneurial victors of these Internet venues and yet we are well on our way to making that history a reality with our own participation on Blogs, online article sites and content writing.

With this incredible responsibility before us; we must commit thinking time to the cause and understand the importance of this cross-roads in designing the future on the Internet. Let's make a difference!

http://www.american.edu/lfs/tesol/In%20Press%20Paper--Future%20of%20Written%20Culture.pdf

I certainly hope this article is of interest and that is has propelled thought. The goal is simple; to help you in your quest to be the best in 2007. I thank you for reading my many articles on diverse subjects, which interest you.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

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Writing About Literature With a New Tool

"Oh no! Not another essay to write on literature!"

If you've ever been in a class where essay writing on literature is taught, you've probably said those words yourself or heard someone else say something close to that.

It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you have to pick a literary device---such as characterization, plot, irony, symbolism, imagery, tone, conflict, denouement, or one of fifty other alien concepts---to write about, would it? Thought so.

And whenever these assignments come up, you probably don't even bother to figure out just why those zillion literary devices ruin a good story, right? You simply can't see the forest for the trees.

Let me explain---All those literary devices are "the trees," and "the forest" is the whole of the interesting story. Simply put, then: When you have to focus on the details of the structural pieces and forms in a story, you lose the interesting entertainment of a story because all those pieces and details make it impossible to keep track of the story as a whole.

You see, this focus on pieces and parts all began around the 1930s, when a movement called The New Criticism started up in America. The New Critics had the quaint idea that you should understand a story on its own terms, without referring to outside sources such as the author's life and thought, the genre, or the current literary trends. They believed that all you need is what's in the story.

Actually, that wasn't a bad idea---that is, until they ignored their own main principle and brought in all those alien literary devices from the outside that related mainly to just the pieces of a story.

What those New Critics missed was something that every lover of stories knows, but just about never is able to put into words, and it has to do with the wholeness ("the forest") of a story, not its pieces ("the trees"), which is this: By the end of a story, something important has to change---or there's no newness and no story! (You knew that, right?)

Here's how it works: In absolutely every published story, what changes at the end always relates to something important said early on in the story, either by or about the main character. And that early statement is always a strong evaluation or description concerning a trait, characteristic, goal, problem, or desire related to the main character. That's what I call the OldView. The change at the end I call the NewView, which is always a Reverse of the OldView.

With that one principle---the change between the important OldView at the beginning and the NewView Reverse at the end---as your tool for understanding a story, you can make sense of every literary device in every story ever written and published. Why? Because authors always use the parts (literary devices) in their stories to support the OldView-NewView change that provides the wholeness that makes a story a story. And that goes for both short stories and novels, any kind of story.

For example, in Edgar Allan Poe's famous short story, The Cask of Amontillado, at the end of the fourth paragraph, Montresor (the main character) says, "I was so pleased to see him, that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand." This OldView value statement is the strongest evaluation of Montresor's feelings up to that point in the story.

True, most everything said before that was about Montresor discussing the revenge he would take on Fortunato. But it is all said matter-of-factly, businesslike, with little warmth or energy. Most professional commentary on the story indicates that Montresor being pleased and "wringing his hand" is just part of his deceiving Fortunato about his hidden desires for revenge. But the story reveals that it is more than just that. "How's that?" you ask.

Well, at the end of the story, the following statement by Montresor provides a NewView Reversal to the important OldView strong value statement we just looked at: "My heart grew sick -- on account of the dampness of the catacombs. I hastened to make an end of my labour."

The dash-dash ( -- ) indicates Montresor is adding an afterthought, one in which he tries to turn around the truth of what he has just said---that his heart really was sick at what he had done in killing his friend, Fortunato. Physically speaking, the dampness would make only his lungs sick, not his heart, as any doctor will tell you.

In the OldView at the beginning, Montresor said, "My smile NOW was at the thought of his immolation [sacrificial killing]." So why isn't he smiling and happy at the end, when he is completing his great revenge on Fortunato? Why is it that his "heart grew sick," and why is he in haste "to make an end of" his labor?

Why not drag out the final acts of his revenge, enjoying his triumph, as he had been doing at the beginning, as well as during the middle of the story---"I was so pleased to see him, that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand"? His statement, "My heart grew sick" really is a NewView Reversal of what we expected of Montresor all along, since he was smiling outwardly and inwardly from the start of the story at the prospect of avenging himself on his friend.

Montresor truly was sick at heart, not of body, as he realized he no longer would have his friend to tease and to torment at his fanciful whim and idle leisure. Yes, Montresor was sick at heart, but it wasn't because of the dampness of the catacombs. Once he noted his own unhappiness, as soon as he realized his friend was finally dead, even before the walling up was completed, he used only four brisk and businesslike sentences to wrap up the story, with no sense of triumph or glee at having accomplished his revenge.

As a last touch, Montresor wistfully pronounces that Latin phrase which for centuries has been used to say goodbye to our respected friends and loved ones, "In pace requiescat," which translates as, "In peace may he rest." Not exactly what you'd say of an enemy you hated, now, is it?

The following example thesis statements demonstrate how knowing the changing OldView-NewView relationship in Poe's short story makes it easier to write about the literary devices in the story:

In The Cask of Amontillado, every teasing thing Montresor says to Fortunato on their walk through the wine cellar has a triple meaning---considering Montresor's hidden intent of killing Fortunato while still being his friend and enjoying his teasing of his friend-and so is highly ironic.
In Poe's story, The Cask of Amontillado, the most important conflict is the one Montresor has with himself at the end over whether to complete the dastardly deed of killing a man for whom he still has feelings of friendship.
In the short story, The Cask of Amontillado, the trowel Montresor shows to Fortunato is not only an image of the literal means of his death, but it is also an image of the huge joke he is building for his cherished friend.
The walling up of Fortunato in Poe's story The Cask of Amontillado is symbolic not only of Montresor walling up his hatred for Fortunato, but, sadly, also of walling up and hiding his tender feelings of friendship for Fortunato.
The theme in Poe's story, The Cask of Amontillado, could be, 'Never let friendship, a few bones, salt peter (nitre), excessive dampness, or the truth get in the way of a little friendly revenge.'

This pattern of OldView strong value statement up front changing to a NewView Reverse at the end works not only in every published short story, but also in every published long story, which we call novels.

Take, for instance, Jane Austen's brilliant novel, Pride and Prejudice, well-known to and beloved by both the American and English cultures. In the beginning of the story, Mr. Darcy is not only disliked by Elizabeth and her mother, Mrs. Bennett, but also by the entire town of Meryton: "He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and everybody hoped that he would never come there again."

At the end of the story, when Elizabeth discovers that Darcy has rescued Lydia and the reputation of the entire Bennett family, she reverses her prejudiced opinion of him and falls in love with him. And Elizabeth expresses her reversed feelings for Darcy almost at the very end of the story. Then, with Elizabeth's engagement to Darcy, her family also reverses their feelings about him---the town, too, probably, though we are not told so---a perfect OldView-to-NewView pattern of change by reversal, a romantic's pure NewView Reverse delight!

Another English novel very familiar to the American public is J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, which as a movie became a box office hit in America and around the world. The written story was even better because it shows the changing OldView-NewView relationship so very clearly. And the written story has a bonus---three major NewView Reverses.

The first OldView takes place at Bilbo and Frodo's big birthday party at the beginning of the story, where Bilbo is the star and Frodo is treated as unimportant, hardly noticed. At the end of the story, the NewView Reverse is that Frodo is honored after the last battle at the Great Feast of the West, where Bilbo is not even present. So Frodo has gone from being ignored as a Zero at the beginning to being praised, toasted, and lauded as a great Hero at the end---quite a drastic NewView Reversal!

The second OldView occurs near the beginning when Gandalf finally tells Frodo all about the powerful and dangerous Ring he inherited from Bilbo. In that conversation, Frodo has no pity for Gollum, and he feelingly says Gollum "deserves death." The NewView Reverse of this actually occurs throughout the story as Frodo consistently prevents Sam or anyone else, such as Prince Faramir (Boromir's brother), from hurting Gollum.

The third and probably most important OldView also occurs during that conversation with Gandalf, when Frodo states how badly he wants the Ring destroyed, passionately bemoaning the fact that he has been given the dangerous Ring.

The NewView Reverse at the end couldn't be more complete---At the very Crack of Doom within Mount Doom in Mordor, where Frodo has come to destroy the Ring, he surprisingly declares, "I do not choose now to do what I came to do. I will not do this deed. The Ring is mine!"-and he puts the Ring on his finger. Fortunately, Gollum bites off Frodo's finger with the Ring on it and steals the Ring from Frodo. But Gollum falls into the fatal fires of Mount Doom with the Ring, thus completing for Frodo his failed mission of destroying the Ring.

As I've demonstrated, the changing OldView-NewView pattern naturally occurs in all stories, short or long. When you learn to recognize that pattern in stories, you can then much more easily see how all the literary devices ("the trees") are used by the author to support the overall wholeness ("the forest") of changing OldView-NewView that is always there, in every story.

With this new tool in hand, you'll be analyzing literature and writing those formerly dreaded (OldView) literary essays with ease (NewView)!

This article was written by Bill Drew, a writing expert who specializes in teaching writing of many varieties and levels, in both theory and practice, especially writing essays, thesis writing, and topic sentences -- with insightful emphasis in teaching writing about literature, as well as writing advertising and other business writing.

He is the author of The Secret DNA of Writing Essays-And Everything Else, as well as The Secret DNA of Analyzing Short Stories. The two books plus software for the first book are available at his website, at Amazon.com, and at ThoughttOffice.com.

His NewView methods are being successfully taught in elementary, middle school, and high school classes.

For further information, see the many endorsements of his books and software on the Testimonials page of his website, as well as the several Reviews on Amazon.com.

Upcoming books planned by Drew include The Secret DNA of Writing Advertising, The Secret DNA of Analyzing Novels, The Secret DNA of School Writing, with Lesson Plans, The Secret DNA of Shakespeare's Plays, The Secret DNA of Communication, The Secret DNA of Education and Teaching, The Secret DNA of Hemingway's Writing, The Secret DNA of Introductions and Conclusions, The Secret DNA of Topic Sentences and Paragraph Development, and many more to come in the Secret DNA series.

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Writing Christian and Inspirational Literature

As Christians we are inspired by the stories in the bible. We are inspired by various life events and experiences. Jesus inspired followers of him through parables and stories. As followers of Christ we should inspire other Christians and non-Christians through our writing. Our stories can provide support, encouragement and faith to those who do not believe or are struggling with staying on the right path to being saved.

Christian and inspirational literature is increasing in demand due to the devastation that has occurred in the past few years in this country and across the world. People have forgotten their spiritual values and lost their way. As a result, people are looking to reconnect spiritually with God to give them hope to face today and look forward to tomorrow. Many people are looking for guidance on their purpose in life as evidenced by the millions of books sold by Rick Warren's book the Purpose Driven Life.

Christians have allowed society to change our views and influence our thoughts about money. We have become greedy and materialistic. Somehow we manage to find money to pay our car note for our trucks, Mercedes Benz, or BMW's and yet complain about having to give tithes each Sunday. The following scriptures provide a perspective regarding the value of money.

Proverbs 13:22

A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children, and the wealth of the sinner is paid up for the just.

Deuteronomy 15:1

[ The Year for Canceling Debts ] At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.

Proverbs 22:7

The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

In the past, people looked to their pastors, bishops, spiritual leaders for guidance. Due to various scandals and hypocrisy in the church and Christian religion many people are turning to others for spiritual guidance, support and encouragement. As a result, the interest in Christian authors to write and publishing houses to publish Christian works has dramatically increased.

In 2005, according to the Book Industry Study Group there are currently 266 different BISAC which are category books based on content that inspirational books. In 2005 11.4% or $2.4 billion of sales were for religious books, Christian books accounted for 85.6% of those sales vs. 86.4% for secular book sales. Here is a more detailed breakdown of book sales:

#of Christian publishers selling books in 2005 - 1380

# of Christian unique titles - 61,614

# of Christian authors - 23,243

Writing Christian or inspirational literature means writing that tells a story but also writing that can affect or change one's life. This type of writing shares experiences, provide step-by-step guides on how to deal with various issues that we experience in our lives. Pointing out your mistakes and what you've learned from them can be used as examples to help readers overcome or prevent those same mistakes.

Write as much as you can, read your bible and pray. Prayer does change things, prayer keeps you humble and helps you stay focused on the things that God wants you to do.

Harrine Freeman is a speaker, personal finance expert and the author of, "How to Get Out of Debt: Get an "A" Credit Rating for Free Using the System I?ve Used Successfully with Thousands of Clients.

She is the CEO of H.E. Freeman Enterprises, a credit repair and personal finance services company. She is a member of the American Association of Daily Money Managers, SPAWN, Toastmasters, AAUW, National Association of Women Writers, IEEE and the Women Network.

For more information on how to get out of debt or to buy her book please visit http://www.hefreemanenterprises.com She can be reached via email at hfreeman@hefreemanenterprises.com.

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Grant Writing - Not Reviewing the Literature - Mistake 2 of 7 to Avoid When Approaching Funders

Federal government agencies, foundations and corporations get turned off by grant proposals that:

Are off-topic;
Have been tried elsewhere;
Give a negative tone;
Come from an applicant, not a client perspective;
Lack adequate infrastructure;
Include lots of unsupported assumptions; and
Look for quick fixes. In this article, you will learn mistake 2 of 7 to avoid when approaching funders: not reviewing the literature. Failure to find out if your project or idea has been tried elsewhere could lead to your rejection. The solution is here, too, so you don't make this mistake in the future.

Most of the time, our ideas are not new. In fact, one researchaer (Meador 1985) found that as many as one-third of all proposals submitted to a funder who was seeking innovative ideas were for projects that had been tried elsewhere.

If the idea for which you seek funding is indeed unique, great. If you're anything like most of my students, after reviewing the literature - offline and online - they realize that they are not alone in the universe. In fact, many find programs doing almost exactly what they want to do someplace else.

Solution

Economically, it is far more efficient and far-reaching to build on what has been done successfully than starting from scratch. Surprisingly, you can still make your idea unique, even if it has been tried elsewhere.

To make your idea unique when tried before, here are six steps to reviewing the literature and avoiding this mistake:

Search online - Search on the Internet using keywords that best represent your idea or program, like child care, child development, daycare, early childhood, preschool.
Search offline - Identify professional associations in your industry, such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Association for Childhood Education International. Review their journals and websites.
Identify 1-3 programs doing what you want to do, like Montessori.
Interview the director of each program.
Summarize in 1-3 paragraphs what each program has already accomplished, methodologies used, failings, successes, stumbling blocks.
Include this summary in the "methods" section of your proposal. Then, leverage your proposal in a way that builds on the successes of the other programs.
Subtle improvement of what works is easier, faster and more fundable than starting from scratch. In the eyes of the funder, building on a review and summary of the literature - online and offline - will demonstrate that you've done your homework.

And now I would like to invite you to claim your free subscription to the Grant Writing Newsletter when you visit http://GrantWritingNewsletter.com.

From Phil Johncock - The Grant Writing Professor

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Writing Critically About Literature

Literature means writing in three genres: prose fiction, poetry, and drama. Literature studied in college is considered humanity's highest level of writing. It is because this literature draws on the most intensely felt creativity of the writer and on the keenest sensibilities and understanding of the readers.

Colleges require lots of writings and these vary both in amount and diversity. Some assignments may be relatively straightforward and similar to things students have written before, such as lab report. Other kinds of assignments such as problem solving report, critical essays, briefs, design papers, case studies, to name just a few, require more than they have encountered.

Writing about literature, indeed, involves the understanding of what lies beyond paragraphs. Students need to critically read the story before writing their own critical analysis.

Critical quality of writing includes at least three characteristics. College writing requires students to do not only locate and report information but also evaluate it. Critical writing, therefore, involves critical reading. Students are also expected to make judgments. Evaluate some information should be supported by recommendation or solution. Last, students are expected to be both more thorough and more precise. To do this, students need to have more than one piece of evidence and information, to use more than one source, to look at things more than one way.

Many good prose fictions appeal to our love of narration. They repay our attention in a good tale of adventure, love, or conflict. Often a short story or a novel will leave us with a dominant impression which is the main idea this work communicates to us. This is called theme of the story.

Sometime the theme is fairly easy to discern. However, some great works do not present an obvious point. Instead, the students as readers have to read closely, analytically, and imaginatively to discern a point.

Fiction involves narrative and therefore exhibits characteristics that can be isolated and considered separately. Plot, characterization, conflict and point of view are the main characteristics of prose fiction.

Plot in a story is the sequence of events. It includes what, when, and why things happen. It might be sequence of time or cause and effect.

Characterization provides the people of the story, including main, central opposing and supporting characters. There are major and minor characters. Characters may be also classified into flat or round, and static or developing characters.

Conflict gives life to the story. It generates plot and brings characterization into focus through actions. It presents problems to be solved and may take the form of person versus person, person versus environment, and person versus self.

Point of view is the point from which a story is told. Third person omniscient means the writer is located outside the story and tells not only what happens but also what selected characters are thinking. Third person limited means the writer limits what he/she can see. First person means the writer is inside the story. He/she is the participant of the story. The last point of view is the most difficult because the narrator tells only what characters say. There is no interpretation.

By rich language it is meant the word choices. It is the diction the writer chooses to tell the story. This language is significant and contributes to the theme. Rich language may take the form of symbolism and imagery.

Writing should be taught as a process of discovery of something beyond the reading material. It implies that revision becomes the main focus of the course and the teacher intervenes to guide the students through the process. Related to critical thinking, students should be able to review the text without any feeling that they have to agree to it. Even when they disagree, they are able to write it in a mature way, putting reason rather than emotion.

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