Custom Essay Writing Services

You might not be used to depositing checks earned by the sweat of your pen (yet). That doesn’t mean you can’t start becoming financially savvy with your writing. One of the top tips for becoming financially empowered is to pay yourself first. How can you do that without incoming cash? Set your intention, and take a little action. Here are eight fun steps to make money a part of your writing, even before you get paid from others.

1) Begin by setting your intention to marry money with writing. Do this by opening a bank account for your writing life. Get a savings account and label it ‘writing’ or another inspiring name that will remind you of your intention.

2) Fund your account by paying yourself when you submit a query, finish a chapter, or achieve some other writing success. Don’t wait for others to acknowledge your progress. It doesn’t have to be a lot; even ten dollars for each success reminds you that you value your efforts.

3) Use your writing funds to pay for contest entry fees, subscriptions, and all that postage you’ll need to mail your monster-sized manuscript. Or, earmark your account for a big reward for your writing such as a writing retreat or conference.

4) How we spend our money reveals what we value. Keep track of your writing-related expenditures. Make writing a priority and investigate how you can shift your financial priorities to support your writing. Keep a log of your writing money and see where you are spending more money than time on your writing.

5) Calculate the return of ‘psychic payment’ on the writing you do. These include the side effects, or benefits, that you get from doing something. Psychic payments from writing could be: feeling of satisfaction with yourself, surge of power from expressing yourself, excitement over completing and submitting something. How do these non-monetary rewards ‘pay’ you?

6) Take a tip from Jim Carrey, a supremely successful creative person. Carrey wrote himself a check for 20 million dollars and carried it in his wallet during his struggling actor days. Try this for yourself. Write a whopping check and in the memo line, put Book Advance. Carry it around or post it in your writing zone.

7) Make your money goals clear. Write down when you’d like to put your work into the world for pay, what you’d like to get paid, and what you’re willing to work for. Set a standard for yourself and stick to it. For instance, your intention might look like this &ndash After January, 2006, I publish only for payment in money (not clips or copies).

Get dreamy. What will you do with the money you earn from writing? You might take a trip, pay off your computer or fund a writer’s conference. Write down your big vision of how you will spend your hard-earned cash. I suggest funneling the money back into your writing.

You will be surprised at the results of connecting money to your creativity. By bringing awareness and financial focus to your writing, you prepare yourself for the day when others pay you for your words. Keep track of emotions, ideas, and external events that stem from your efforts. Take steps toward putting your work out there for pay. And have fun with it!

Writing throughout history has transformed itself to either an immortalization of one’s thoughts or a lucrative business. The first is the essence and the other one is the consequence.

With respect to the art of writing itself, it must always be treated with reverence. Not that too many great people have dedicated themselves towards glorifying the art or that it has become a means by which we have learned history and man’s life but because it is in itself, a vital part of our existence.

Creative writing must come from the heart. It can be learned. It can be copied from what has already been written by other authors, only adding some innovative details. It can be new. Whatever you choose, so long as you write from your heart and from the deepest of your thoughts, you are sure to crop out creative ideas.

There is literally hundreds of ways by which you can manipulate your creativity towards writing. But whatever you do, never loose sight of your aim. That is, to write as your heart dictates.

We can never give justice to writing if we treat it as a job or we if we see it from a business-mind’s perspective alone. It must be dealt with passionately. Without passion, one will never be good enough for writing.

Writers write because they have no other choice.

There seems to be a tiny voice (which somehow overpowers the owner of this voice) that urges someone to write. This never stops in telling you to put your ideas, sentiments, emotions, notions, name it, into paper that you can go back into.

This voice will let you explore the significance of writing to your being. This tiny voice will let you realize that writing has no boundaries. It is the guiding voice that would show you your own path, a road that was set apart for you even before time begun.

The strange thing though is that this inner writer never stops in urging you, not even if you have already forgotten listening to him. But you see, it is inevitable for an inborn writer to turn away from his gifts. The voice may be silent for sometime and it has justifications for doing so.

It may be that for a couple of times, you have failed to listen to it or worse, you deliberately turned away from it. But it is its nature to come back to its ever-persisting voice to encourage you to write as it would say.

Creative writing is not only an art, it is a devotion, a passion, an instinct. You may learn technical techniques on how to hone your talent but you see, at the end of the day, you may not need as much technical training as you would have first thought. In fact, you are built in ways that are ideal for your becoming a writer.

A philosopher once told us of the beasts that thrive within us. Now, know and really take into consideration that there lives a genius within you, you just have to tune into him. And once you do, you will learn that this genius is the only thing that could help you towards turning yourself into a creative writer.

Creative writing can be channeled out to profit. But that is not the real essence of writing. If you write, just write from your heart and never mind the pockets. Because after all, business will find its ways to follow those who write their hearts well.

(And How To Keep Them From Fouling Up Your YA Fiction)

In 10 years, will anybody understand you if you say “fo shizzle?” Will they stare blankly if you mention Britney Spears’ buzz cut or Paris Hilton’s jail time? They might, they might not, but the point is this: If you’re a writer of young adult fiction, you can’t afford to pepper your prose with slang and cultural references that reek like week-old sushi.

More than in any other genre of writing, writers of young adult material must be acutely aware of the fact that what’s hip today is ho-hum tomorrow. In a youth culture where information is instantaneous and trends seemingly change by the hour, a great piece of writing can easily be spoiled by out-of-date references.

“Any pop culture references to fashion or TV shows change so rapidly,” says Dr. Montana Miller, an assistant professor with the Popular Culture department of Bowling Green State University. (Yes, they have a whole department that studies nothing but popular culture.) “In a way the effort to be relevant to the young audience by putting in these references is futile because the references are so quickly outdated. Young readers have a high sensitivity to when these things are contrived. They like to have a lot of detail but pick up on when the detail is being put in their purposely to capture them.”

Since the actual publishing of a novel generally takes a year (not counting the time it takes to write the first draft), shout-outs to famous people, hot television shows, political scandals, or trends will more than likely ring false to young adult readers once the book is actually read. Realistically, pop music stars who today are the focus of intense devotion on myspace will probably be has-beens by the time your novel is published.

Are there exceptions to this? Are there people, things, or events that become so entrenched in the prevailing psyche that they will fly as pop culture references? “Barbie is always going to be a touchstone for everyone,” Miller notes. “But I think that very few things become that universal and as permanent as Barbie.”

Barbie, though, has consistently wormed her way into the unconscious dreams and desires of little girls (and probably little boys too) since she was created in 1959. That’s more than 50 years of birthday parties, Christmas presents, and unfettered envy plastered into every little girl’s subconscious. Barbie has earned the right to be used as a cultural reference anywhere, just by longevity. But what about other less hearty objects? Anybody remember Tickle Me Elmo? Only the parents who clubbed each other one Christmas to hijack the local Toys R Us to make their childrens’ dreams come true. The kids probably stuffed the thing in a closet somewhere, and don’t even remember they wanted it.

Media is a tough call also. Music, movies, television shows, these all are a huge part of the American experience. But what makes a piece of media reference-worthy? Classic films from the ’40s and ’50s might be a cultural touchstone for people of a certain age, but for young adults, the idea is mass consumption, not lasting memories. And people of the older generations had far fewer options for entertainment and media. Pretty much everyone saw Casablanca and knows what it is. Pretty much everyone watched Leave it to Beaver because there were only three channels on the old black-and-white Zenith, and two of them didn’t work if the weather was bad. These people shared many common references.

Today, though, an internet search of ‘popular culture’ will net you more than 2 million entries. It’s not possible that every young adult who reads will have the exact same cultural references today, let alone remember them in five years, or ten. So, generally, the rule of thumb should be to avoid hot pop culture references in your writing.

At least two exceptions to this rule exist, though. First, if you’re writing for a specific genre audience that will share the same background and cultural history, some pop references will ring true. The sci fi geeks who frequent Comic Con all know the Star Wars mythology, and more than likely share at least a passing knowledge of things like the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game and the old Star Trek series. Sub cultures have their own history and language, so using their own internal pop culture references might work if you’re familiar with that world, but again, you must be absolutely sure that you do know what you’re talking about. Sports, surfing, the goth culture, punk music, the gay teen scene, all these are sub groups under the young adult umbrella, and all have their specific common references.

The second exception, according to Miller, is the case where a teenager writes the account of his or her own experience. In that case, pop culture references that might go stale are acceptable because the pieces are more like documentaries or memoirs, and so the point of view is that of a real person who is recounting the details of his or her life. One example is a French bestseller, Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow written by Faiza Guene, a college-aged student who writes of her experience as the child of Algerian immigrants raised in Paris. Although labeled as fiction, the novel draws heavily on Guene’s own experiences, and because of this and because of her age, cultural references in it automatically retain their credibility.

Another issue in writing for the young adult audience is the use of slang, which Miller notes is still “awfully regional.” The term for something that’s cool in San Francisco, (”hella”) is different from the term for cool in New England (”wicked”). Although internet and text messaging slang might seem universal since most teenagers use it, the terms change and mutate so quickly that including them could be risky. One current favorite, “pwned” (it means “to be owned or dominated by an opponent in a situation”), actually is a corruption of the word “owned” and comes from a popular online game called World of Warcraft. In five years will anyone remember that? Hard to say, but it’s probably safer to leave it out.

All in all, the best bet for YA writers is to capture a reader’s attention with universal themes and characters rather than hot pop culture or slang. “If you’re an older writer writing for this audience,” Miller suggests, “the most important thing to capture the loyalty and love of young readers is to focus on themes of relationship, gossip, jealousy, betrayal, the things that keep readers attached and gripped. They respond better to plot and story lines and themes that are getting even more intense in this competitive world today. Kids want to see the kind of pressure they are really under now reflected in the stories they read.”

Fo’ shizzle.

Writing on a small press, Nelson Pahl joined some of mainstream literature’s most famous names to become one of the five finalists for romantic fiction’s biggest award, the 2007 Bronte Prize. The accolade recognizes the best love story published in the U.S. and Canada annually.

Pahl’s Bee Balms & Burgundy, published on independent imprint Caf

“[Henry David] Thoreau is a keen and delicate observer of nature - a genuine observer - which, I suspect, is almost as rare a character as even an original poet; and Nature, in return for his love, seems to adopt him as her especial child, and shows him secrets which few others are allowed to witness.” &ndash Nathaniel Hawthorne (Journal entry, September 1, 1842)

Most of the greatest poets were not recognized for their work until they had long been laid to rest. Many suffered great difficulties in their personal lives, which may have led the poet to the wellspring from which they drew their words.

It has been suggested that poetry was used in our long distant past as a creative means of passing along traditions and history simply because the poetic language was easy to memorize and enjoyable to recite. The bards in medieval times were renowned for their use of poetry.

From free verse to rhyme and meter, poetry remains a benchmark in the world of literature. The pursuit of poetic markets remains a positive way to further an ancient form of storytelling that requires a special gift while the poet’s emotions are largely exposed.

Poetry is the one element of writing that impacts the emotions of writers more than any other. The vulnerable feel of poetry allows a writer to explore circumstances and emotions in a way that is difficult to do in most writing genres.

Most poets craft their words as a stress release and rarely share them with the world at large, however, there may be markets available for poetry.

It is true that publishers of poetry are about as plentiful as wheat fields in the Arctic, but there are other avenues for your poetry that can allow you to publish your material in unique and memorable ways.

Greeting card publishers are always interested in new succinct poems to share with card buyers. Poems can also be artfully placed on a line of gift merchandise including mugs and artwork suitable for framing.

In our modern era you would be hard-pressed to find someone who is able to make a living writing poetry. However poetry can provide a source of writing income and is often a creative outlet for those who also write in other genres.

It is true there are those who have little appreciation for poetry, yet the poet’s work has brought about significant societal debate and ultimate change in our world. Perhaps this is because the reader is invited to share the writer’s perspective in an emotional way that allows a perspective to be heard with something other than ears.

Here’s the question &ndash is it better to have a secondary plot or sub-plots? Here’s another question, which as a reader, and then as a writer do you prefer?

I think you have to have both.

Subplot = A subordinate plot in fiction or drama. In our terms (A relating plot) Basically a hidden plot that some readers miss and writers don’t know they have written, which helps bring the romance to the surface. Also known as twist and turns through out the romance.

A secondary plot is second story happening in the process of the romance. Such as a Mystery Romance, solving the murders.

As a reader I prefer and expect both. As a writer I love the secondary plot and fear the subplot. Not only do you have to worry about coming up with ways for the romance to move foreword and the secondary plot to come to an end but you have to add this hidden tale of the romance. Man what a pain in the ole writers wrist.

What makes a good secondary plot? And what makes a good sub-plot?

Can you give an example? And tell us how you would use those tools to your benefit?

A good Secondary plot has to be strong enough to hold up to the tension of the romance plot, without taking away from it. Basically in my book La Roe’s Finding the murderer and bringing him to justice is the secondary plot.

The subplot was Max teaching Emerald how to love and trust again. This had to happen for Emerald and the real hero Stephan to end up together.

By weaving a good subplot and secondary plot you end up with a gripping romance even if it’s a comedy since all parts play off the main plot, ROMANCE.

After a three-month span that included the sudden and early deaths of both the canine companion he called “daughter” and his beloved father, indie lit penmaster Nelson Pahl deserved a break.

He finally got one&ndasheven if it pales in comparison to his heartbreaking winter.

Pahl’s Bee Balms & Burgundy, published on independent imprint Caf

Traditionally, journalists have more or less worked alone. Journalists in both the news business and feature writers for magazines typically will develop their stories, dig up their leads, conduct their interviews and draft the final product themselves. In the newspaper business, major stories will sometimes become collaborative efforts where several reporters are working on aspects of a story and their work is edited into a single piece, published under multiple bylines.

Communicating with a journalist was generally a haphazard affair, placing a call to a switchboard or desk and leaving a message. Today, major newspapers all have websites and provide email addresses for most of their journalists and nearly all of their columnists. People who write columns and opinion pieces are generally more open to communicating with the public because their work is often designed to generate controversy and feedback is important. Occasionally columnists will find ideas for new topics in the email traffic they receive, or will write about the heavy response they received on a particular piece.

A journalist with some initiative can take this communications process one step further by setting up a personal website. That site can serve several purposes: all of them require some work. The function of the site depends, to some degree, on the amount of time the journalist is willing to devote to it. A working reporter may also have to negotiate permission to engage in some online publishing of his own with the editorial staff of the paper or magazine that employs him.

Internet blogs have made some opinionated people in this country powerful and well known, just by virtue of their daily journaling. A working journalist could set up a blog for which he could provide occasional entries, relating to his work or to other news stories or totally unrelated subjects. The value of a blog is that it provides the opportunity for open dialogue among all who wish to log on and participate. Name recognition can be meaningful to some journalists and blogging is one way to develop “viral” recognition by inviting communication. Many people will be attracted to the opportunity to communicate with someone who gets paid to publish.

Blogs can develop story lines for topics for journalists, particularly columnists and feature writers. They can help a professional writer build a persona that doesn’t enter into the straight journalism he produces on the job. A personal blog is a way to build a public and well rounded profile that the constraints of a traditional journalism job don’t usually allow.

A personal website can also provide the journalist an opportunity to showcase a “profile” of work that is unrelated to the job, or at least has gone unpublished by the employer. Here again, there is a fine line between what the journalist can do online - which is essentially public exposure - and what the requirements of exclusivity on the job may be. But if a journalist has ventured into fiction, a personal website is a great way to put it out there for exposure.

If the goal is a publishing opportunity for fictional work, the website may be a way to short circuit the formal submission rules for fictional work that magazines and book publishers maintain. An established journalist is already a professional writer. Asking a book publishing editor or potential agent to look at product posted on a website is much easier than engaging in the formal process.

Few people know that many of William Shakespeare’s plays were published posthumously. Virginia Fellows’ Shakespeare Code includes an intriguing discussion of works attributed to Shakespeare that appeared after his passing in 1616. Shakespeare had been dead for seven years when the First Folio of his collected works was published. This celebrated Folio edition contained 36 plays, half of which had never been seen before. According to Fellows, many of the previously unpublished plays “were entered into the Stationer’s Register on November 8, 1623, just in time for publication” a little later that same month.

More fascinating still, a number of plays published previously were altered. There were deletions as well as new additions. Fellows writes: “In the First Folio, The Merry Wives of Windsor has twelve hundred more lines than it had in 1602, Titus Andronicus has a whole new scene, and Henry V is double the length of the 1600 edition.”

Given the fact that Shakespeare was long gone and had left not a single manuscript behind, legitimate questions arise: Who edited the old plays? Where did the new plays come from, and why were they written?

Fellows, a firm supporter of the theory that Sir Francis Bacon rather than Will Shakespeare wrote the plays, looks to the field of cipher writing for an answer to these questions. She emphasizes a fact that may provide a plausible link between the works of Francis Bacon and William Shakespeare. In October 1623, a month before the release of the First Folio, Bacon published a new Latin edition of his 1605 treatise The Advancement of Learning. In this revised and expanded edition, entitled De Augmentis Scientiarum, he openly discussed a method of code writing, the Bi-Literal Cipher, which he had devised when still in his teens.

Coincidence? Bacon advocates don’t think so, and have used Bacon’s own Bi-Literal Cipher to hunt for hidden messages in Shakespeare’s works and a number of publications by several contemporaries that exhibited the same odd typesetting features as the First Folio. (For a detailed description of the Bi-Literal Cipher and quotations of deciphered materials on Bacon’s hidden life as the unrecognized oldest son of Queen Elizabeth I, see Fellows’ captivating book.)

Bacon’s Bi-Literal Cipher requires a substantial volume of text: it’s designed in such a way that for each encrypted letter, five “outer” letters are needed. Furthermore, cipher-sleuths such as Mrs. Elizabeth Wells Gallup concluded, rightly or wrongly, that only italic letters were used in the bi-literal cipher believed to be embedded in Shakespeare’s works&ndashwhich would rapidly multiply the volume of outer or “enfolding” text needed to contain the hidden messages. Fellows reasons that this demand for extensive cover text could well account for the adding of sections to old plays and the production of new ones.

While this may be the case, I think it’s only one of several possible answers, and by no means the most important one. The quality of the outer texts&ndashthe plays themselves&ndashis simply too exquisite to have been produced merely for the benefit of hiding secret stories&ndashwhose quality, if the various decoded segments are correct, is often inferior to the outer text. Let me offer another explanation instead: I believe that the plays were essential to Bacon’s life work, which he summarized as The Great Instauration.

Early in his life, after much disappointment in the stultified state of learning he encountered at Trinity College, Bacon, the young genius, set himself to the monumental task of bringing about a scientific, literary and cultural revolution&ndashboth in England and in the world at large. All his future research and writings contributed in one way or another to this all-encompassing goal. In 1620 he finally disclosed this vision for a new golden age of peace, prosperity and enlightenment in The Great Instauration, and a few years later he painted an enticing picture of this new kind of society in his little book The New Atlantis.

The method he conceived of to bring about the Instauration consisted of six parts or steps. The three first steps were dedicated to an inventory of the state of knowledge and to employing a new scientific method&ndashthat of experimentation and inductive reasoning&ndashthat would replace the fruitless dialectical reasoning prevalent at the time. His various natural histories were examples as well as components of the inventory process, and his classic Novum Organon&ndashthe “New Method”&ndashexplained the methodology he devised for this huge and far-reaching endeavor.

The fourth step, which he called “The Ladder of the Intellect,” was the first in the next tier of the process&ndashthat of attaining philosophical illumination. Bacon described this step as demonstrating the various insights and principles found in the first three steps “before the eyes” so that people could understand and absorb them&ndashsuch as in art, literature and hands-on education. He wrote: “For I remember that in mathematics it is easy to follow the demonstration when you have a machine beside you, whereas without that help all appears involved and more subtle than it really is.”

Francis Bacon discovered the power of theatre when, at twelve years of age, he wrote and starred in a little play called The Philosopher King, performed before the Queen herself. He learned that drama was a moving, effective means by which philosophical and moral principles could be set “before the eyes” of rich and poor, educated and uneducated alike. Thus, some Baconian scholars have come to the conclusion that by writing the immortal plays published under the mask of Shakespeare, packed with their profound life lessons, he showed us a powerful way to implement Step 4 of his Great Instauration.

References

Bacon, Francis &ndashThe Advancement of Learning (1605); The Great Instauration (1620); De Augmentis Scientiarum (1623); The New Atlantis (1624)

Fellows, Virginia M. &ndash The Shakespeare Code (Snow Mountain Press, 2006)

Wells Gallup, Elizabeth &ndash The Biliteral Cypher of Sir Francis Bacon Discovered in his Works and Deciphered by Mrs. Elizabeth Wells Gallup (1899)

For a brief overview of the many controversies surrounding the ciphers said to have been discovered in Shakespeare’s works, see my article entitled “Shakespeare Cipher Stories.”

The fifth step was dedicated to determining temporary or intermediate statements of truth, and the last one to arriving at the ultimate statements of truth regarding God, Nature and Man.

Got knowledge? Got an enthusiastic target market? Then there’s no reason to stick to books, ebooks, audios and videos to convey your expertise. Many more creative options abound, and give you the chance to entice an unsure buyer to make an initial purchase as well as have something appealing for followup sales.

Creative packaging also gives you a significantly better shot at magazine and web publicity. Years ago, for example, I reformatted the contents of an audiotape as a 10-installment seminar on colorful postcards. Entrepreneur Magazine thought it was cute, and ran a little story about my inventive new product, “The Procrastinator’s Penpal,” with a photo and my contact information.

For each creative packaging option, I’ve provided links for resources or examples.

1. Reminder Cards

Imagine colorful, well-designed “cheat sheets” that lots of people would find it useful to refer to often, and you have a product. Years ago I repurposed a sidebar from my book Persuading on Paper into a proofreading checklist. I printed it out on one sheet of good quality paper, both sides, laminated it and included it as a component of an information product kit.

Bankers Online sells a colorful, postcard-sized reminder card on the telltale signs of bogus IDs in packs of 50 for easy reference by tellers and other bank employees. The more highly designed such items, the less temptation buyers will have to snitch your idea and duplicate it on their own. You’re best off going with a printing company that specializes in postcard production for this printing this type of card cost-effectively in large quantities.

Laminated Reference Guides - .barcharts.com/

P.L.E.A.S.E. System Reminder Cards - .bankersonline.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=397

2. Posters

Posters are as popular today as they were when you were you were in college and for the same reasons &ndash they can decorate a wall and convey a message better than anything smaller. They can also serve as larger-than-life-sized reminder cards. Nearly anything amusing or educational can be made into a saleable poster.

Special poster printers can create full-color posters for you in bulk for resale, while Cafepress and Zazzle are suitable for creating posters in ultra-small quantities or on demand.

Cafepress - .cafepress.com/cp/customize/product.aspx?clear=true&no=54

Zazzle - .zazzle.com/design/

3. Puzzles

Just about any kind of puzzle you can buy ready-made, you can also commission as a puzzle containing content that you specify. That includes jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, word-search puzzles, Rubik’s cubes, mazes, word jumbles, cryptograms, etc. Sell thematic puzzles with insider clues or content one by one or in a collection.

Crossword Compiler Software - .crossword-compiler.com/

Custom Jigsaw Puzzles - .jardinpuzzles.com/jppuzpic.htm

4. Stickers

Stickers in your product line can be humorous or practical. The category includes bumper stickers, stickers intended as labels, warning stickers, name tags, promotional messages, indicators of credentials or affiliations, reward stickers for kids, business reminders and more.

Custom Made Stickers - .websticker.com/

Personalized Bumper Stickers - .timsbumperstickers.com/

These ideas just scratch the surface of the possibilities! There are at least 97 more options for creative product and service formats in which you can package and sell what you know.