21 Dec 09 Why Watching Movie is Important For a Writer

Where I come from, a kid is not allowed to watch much of the television, at least not in my time. Kids have to sneak in their home’s living room when no one is around. This was done to save the young from damaging effect of television soaps. I do not think stopping a kid from watching television or movie is completely wise as it may stifle the imagination.

As a writer (freelance, web or otherwise), are you doing it to yourself?

Are you stopping yourself from consuming those lovely shows and soaps that you always liked?
If you are doing this then it is a big mistake, a huge one. You need to stop at once and start indulging in movies, soaps, and plays.

Why?

A movie is a fertile ground for a writer to learn trick of the trade. It teaches you many things including:

Character sketching
Emotional responses
Dialogue writing
Scene creation
Story telling

And along with these story mechanics, a good movie also tells you:

How to engage an audience?
How to make them wanting for more?
What words to use to strike chord with the audience?
What style of narrative to use for the problem at hand?

A movie also tells you about your market and about what words to use, what kind of sentences to construct, and how long or short sentences and paragraphs should be. One also learns the art of creating favorable ambience to get the emotional response sought by the article.

It is very important for you as a student of writing to watch movie and learn from it. Be a keen observer, and do not just consume a movie, observe it. In order to learn something from the movie, you have to dissect the various scene and emotional responses that led to the dramatic ending the movie had. You can then use it to create the experience you want in your audience.

Tags: Ambience, Audience, Big Mistake, Creation Story, Dialogue, Emotional Response, Emotional Responses, Fertile Ground, Imagination, Keen Observer, Kind Of Sentences, Living Room, Many Things, Mechanics, Narrative, Paragraphs, Scene Creation, Soaps, Time Kids, Watching Television

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04 Dec 09 Are You a Freelance Writer, Do You Know How to Fight Distraction?

For a freelance writer, it is quite easy to get distracted because he works from home. For the large part of the day, people in our home keep either talking or watching television, which never fails to distract us. This is frustrating, which further sucks away our productivity.

How to avoid it?

Fortunately, there is a way out of it, which anyone of you can use to avoid distraction, regardless of your situation.

Assign yourself a place of work

This is the must-take action for any freelance writer. It is not good to carry your laptop and sit anywhere in your home to work, well occasional working-in-kitchen will not hurt but do not make it a routine. I know it sounds against the spirit of freelance writing—you can work from anywhere and anytime—but this is worth a deviation. Find a lonely corner in your house and turn it into a workplace.

Fix your work hours

I may sound like talking against the freedom of freelance writing, but my intention is not to drag you back into the 9-5 job that you left in the past, it is only to help you produce more. And as it is you can anytime pull the string and call it off.

Work, no matter what

Once you fix your work hour, you should stick to it, no matter what. Well, you can deviate from “no matter what” principle without any guilt feeling when you know you need to. Occasion deviation never hurts, at least not in our profession.

Talk to your family

At times, getting things write just need a word from us. Talk to your family and tell them that you are working around here, so not to create distraction. Well this might not work with a disgruntled spouse, but in most of the cases, this will be enough. Believe it or not, they understand the value of the work you are doing.

As you can see, fighting off distraction does not take so much of muscle power as much it takes discipline and tactics. What are your tactics to fight this monster off? Use the comment box and tell me your strategies.

Tags: Discipline, Distraction, Freedom, Freelance Work, Freelance Writer, Freelance Writing, Guilt, Intention, Job, Laptop, Lonely Corner, Monster, Muscle Power, Occasion, Principle, Productivity, Profession, Sounds, Spirit, Watching Television

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02 Jul 09 Writing Ideas Checklist

Let’s start this article with a question. How do you know the idea you are going to develop into an article or a blog post is a good one? You just know it, right? Well, this strategy isn’t bad as long as you are writing for your personal satisfaction on your blog, but this strategy will not work, if you intend to get it published in a magazine or want readers to flock to your articles on the Internet.

Sometimes, instinct gives a good indication about what topic will get warm welcome from the readers, and what will be ignored as if it never existed, but instinct cannot be a reliable guide, if you have to write daily or regularly for any magazine, newspaper, online magazine or blog. You need a more reliable system then the instinct has to offer.

Before working on developing any idea into an article or a blog post, you should check how it does on the following parameter:

Do you have something new to offer?

The chances are quite high that the topic you are going to write about has already been covered by the magazine or blog you are writing for. Even if they have not covered it, their competitors must have done that. Do you have anything new to say about the weight-loss program you are going to write about? Any new development or a new angle? Even a fresh point of view can offer the required newness.

Does your writing flow?

If you want people to read what you write, your articles and blog posts need to flow. No one likes bumpy rides. Your words and sentences should help them glide through the paragraph after paragraphs. Do not use jargons, and keep the structure as simple as the writing idea permits. Always remember, your readers have limited time, and in this time, he can either read your article or do other things like, watching television, listening music, or write on Facebook walls.

How will it connect with the reader?

This is the most crucial point. You have a groundbreaking idea, and your writing style makes you hell of a charmer, but still your visitors are not falling over each other to read your piece, why? May be because you have targeted a wrong market, and the readers here are too smart or too stupid for your kind of articles. People will read only if you step up or step down (depending upon where you are) to their level. Can the reader connect with your article?

What’s the use?

Imagine this: you have come home after a long tiring day at office, and you turned on your laptop to read something, or picked a magazine to browse through. Your eyes happen to find an article that has a nice juicy headline, interesting sub-headlines, and even the first few lines are written wonderfully. You couldn’t resist but read it till the end, but here comes the bomb. The article has nothing to offer but a nice flowing style of writing. It doesn’t add even a single word, sentence or idea to your repertoire of the existing knowledge. You feel wastes. Your reader will feel the same, so make sure you are writing because you have something valuable to offer.

Will it entertain?

The entertainment value of any article should not be underrated. People do not read your article just because they feel you are going to redeem them. They do not think that way, nor are they here to get enlightened, though they will not mind it, if the redemption and enlightenment is offered sugar-coated in entertainment. You do not need to preach to send the serious message across. Do not think readers are so blunt.

Tags: blog, Bumpy Rides, Crucial Point, Facebook, Fresh Point, Hell, Instinct, Listening Music, Music Notes, Newness, Paragraph, Paragraphs, Personal Satisfaction, Point Of View, Sentences, Warm Welcome, Watching Television, Weight Loss Program, Writing Ideas, Writing Notes, Writing Style

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21 Dec 09 Why Watching Movie is Important For a Writer

04 Dec 09 Are You a Freelance Writer, Do You Know How to Fight Distraction?

Assign yourself a place of work

Fix your work hours

Work, no matter what

Talk to your family

02 Jul 09 Writing Ideas Checklist

Do you have something new to offer?

Does your writing flow?

How will it connect with the reader?

What’s the use?

Will it entertain?

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