How to Make the 80/20 “Pareto Principle” Enhance Your Writing Success
You have to know what works and capitalize on this truth to achieve success. Image by Austin Distel on Unsplashhttps://unsplash.com/photos/xz8-g_nmHs0. I first came across the 80/20 principle when I was doing research on dieting. There was a theory that eating right 80% of the time would be enough to see weight loss, even if 20% of the time I indulged.
Read full storyHow to Write an Introduction Worthy of Attention
An English Teacher’s Toolbox of Time-Tested Strategies. Image by StockSnap on Pixabayhttps://pixabay.com/photos/man-writing-laptop-computer-write-2562325/. I’ve been teaching high school English for over twenty years, and as they often say, the best way to learn something is by teaching it to others. Experience has been a beloved teacher and has taught me, for example, the benefits and value of writing a good introduction.
Read full storyThe Magical Experience of Visiting The Biltmore Estate
Here's why The Biltmore Estate should be on every traveler's itinerary. Millions of people visit Asheville, N.C. each year and return home to their friends and neighbors raving about their travels to this thriving city in Western North Carolina. They mention the Blue Ridge Mountains' scenic views and the multitude of cultural and natural wonders at the heart of the region.
Read full storyHow to Use the “Beautiful Mess Effect” to Make People Love You
A science-backed way to build new relationships, enhance existing ones, and make you the most dazzling person in the room. We try so hard for people to think we’re good enough. We starve ourselves to be thin. We hide the fact our marriages are falling apart or we’re depressed. We lie about how much we drink, how much we weigh, or how much we make on the job. We stuff ourselves into Spanx, conceal our acne, dye our grey hair, and usually answer “fine thanks” or “great, how about you?” when people ask us how we’re doing.
Read full storyHow Fictional Writers Can Use the Power of Grammar and Punctuation to Keep Readers Wanting More
Real writers know a period is much more than just a way to end a sentence. For many writers, grammar and punctuation are afterthoughts. They assume that as long as their stories have good ideas and good words, their writing will stand out. However, the truth is punctuation and other grammatical features can significantly impact the amount of power a piece of writing holds. And by using the force of these lesser considered aspects of writing, writers can draw their readers even farther into their fictional works. So here are a few ways to use them effectively.
Read full storyHow Fiction Writers Can Use Narration and Plot Dynamics to Create Suspense
By using some tried and true plot techniques, the reader can’t help but follow your spine-tingling text along to its ultimately satisfying conclusion. A writer's first point of focus in order to develop suspense is not manipulating what happens in the story, but focusing on who tells the story itself. Once that is accomplished, there are many other plot techniques that work together to leave your reader hanging on the edge of their seats.
Read full storyThe Key to Writing Ideas That Bear Article Fruit
Use the CASH acronym and 2 steps to turn lightbulb moments into workable drafts. We writers get random ideas throughout the day that make us think, “This would make for a great article.”
Read full storySome Grammar Rules From School Writers Should Start Breaking Immediately
Depending on the publication they're writing for, professional writers may have to let go of "old school" notions of good writing. I’ve taught writing for over 20 years and only in the last two have I branched out to write for “real world” publications. And let me tell you, learning to write for these publications was like taking out over two decades of trash. I kept about half of the “good stuff” I learned about the writing process and tossed out the other half in disbelief and tears.
Read full storyHow To Use Epistrophe and Personification in Your Writing
Tips from a writing teacher who knows the techniques that work. For centuries, great writers have studied rhetoric, defined as the art of effective speaking and writing. For those seeking to improve their craft, these techniques are of immeasurable value. They can add a three-dimensionality to language, managing to make the words used not only carry meaning, but also color them with rhythm and make them call out to the senses as well.
Read full storyHow To Use Anaphora and Metaphors in Your Writing
Advanced rhetorical techniques to make your writing sing. My best articles have focused on the topic of writing. Which makes sense because I’ve taught it for over twenty years.
Read full storyWhich One of These Four Things Is Keeping You From Success?
In order to reach your goals, you'll need to find the missing piece of the puzzle. Think of a thousand-piece puzzle. You can spend hours carefully fitting together nine hundred and ninety-nine pieces, but without that one missing piece, none of it matters.
Read full storyImportant Facts You Need to Know About Your Body, Protein, and Weight Loss
Yes, cutting carbs and calories will make a big difference in the numbers on the scale, but adding proteins will make a bigger one. I have an eighteen-year-old son who has lost over seventy pounds in the last nine months. He’s become quite obsessive about nutrition and workouts and looking at him, I completely understand his compulsion. He’s like a different person, both on the inside and out. He has more confidence and his habits and disposition have completely changed for the better.
Read full storyLet’s Be Real About Writer’s Block
Maybe the usual tips and advice aren’t working because you’re forgetting you’re human. Meditation. Journaling. Visualization. Creative prompts to awaken your brain’s imagination, to get you excited about writing again. Tried it. Tried them all. No luck.
Read full storyHow Creatives Can Fight Inspiration Killers Like Stress and Fear
Don’t let the Coronavirus destroy your creativity. We all lead stressful lives. This stress arises from many things, such as work, bills, or strained personal relationships. However, with the deadly threat of the coronavirus and the plethora of changes (almost all of them negative) that we’re being forced to endure to stay safe and healthy, our stress levels can rise to monumental proportions.
Read full storyOne Hundred Words or Less To Cure Writer’s Block
One great way writers can find the words they need and make a little money in the process. I sit here at the computer, engaged in a staring contest with an expanse of white. I refuse to let it win, yet the words I need evade me. Where are they?
Read full storyWriting Advice from a Vampire, Detective, and Dreamer
Books can do more than entertain us. They can teach us to be better writers--and people. “When a being reveals his pain in such a torrent, [one is] bound to respect the whole of the tragedy.” -Lestat de Lioncourt.
Read full storyPerfect Girl Syndrome and How to Overcome It
When will we realize we’re amazing just the way we are?. Every day at four a.m. I wake up. I work on my writing until seven-thirty when it’s time to get dressed for teaching. I deny myself anything but black coffee, unsweetened tea, or water until I get home at four. Then it’s another coffee to energize me, and shortly after, a drink to loosen me up. Then, and only then, do I eat.
Read full storyTips, Tricks, and Secrets to Help Writers Gain More Readers
Format, organization, and a special journalistic strategy go a long way towards getting more reads. As a writer, you want people to acknowledge your efforts and to appreciate your craft. It is a writer’s most painful moment to see others ignore his or her work. Shame, doubt, and pangs of sadness come when an audience disregards the long hours you spend at the writer’s table. But you can make this unpleasant phenomenon a lot less likely by incorporating a few simple strategies and special formatting into your written work. Let me show you how.
Read full story5 Phrases Readers Want to Hear From Writers
When writers make readers their friends, the relationship becomes one that is mutually beneficial. The writer and reader relationship is a bit like a friendship. And if a writer does their job well, it’s the best kind of friendship.
Read full storyHow To Build Suspense in a Piece of Writing
What is the thing that draws us into a half-over television show when we step into the living room to pick up a dirty pair of pants that needs to be thrown into the wash? The thing that finds us immobile thirty minutes later, sitting with said pants still in our hands, perched on the corner of the recliner?
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