Does your sister have a talent for jumping rope and blowing bubbles, with purple bubble gum? Maybe heroine for your next book could do same.Is their a kid in your neighborhood that is always getting into trouble? Hmm, do you think that creator of Dennis Mennis might have known one?

You can use your family and friend’s talents and their physical characteristics to come up with tons of characters. One hint though- if you choose to make Uncle Charlie a slug or Aunt Emma a rhinoceros, keep it to yourself. They may not be thrilled with their induction into literary history.

Inspiration is all around you, waiting for you to reach out and grab for your next storyline or character. Use stories from news, jokes that your neighbors tell you, quirky things that your dog Buster does in morning.

One final word - stop criticizing what you have written down. In these first stages, no one cares if you have misspelled words or if your grammar isn’t perfect. Just write. The rest will follow, after your story is done.

Caterina Christakos is author of How to Write a Children’s Book in 30 Days or Less. For more writing tips please go to http://www.howtowriteachildrensbook.com

4. Focus yourself. If you need internet for research, that’s fine. Just restrict yourself to research at hand. I can’t tell you how often I found myself, two hours later, surfing some unrelated sites and being no closer to my goal. It’s easy to get side-tracked so watch yourself.

5. LIMIT yourself. Provided you can stay focused on task at hand, you should limit yourself to a certain amount of time. You don’t want to burn yourself out and end up hating task. Get youself a clock or watch and choose a comfortable time limit. I usually give myself thirty minutes at a time. It may not seem like a lot of time, but remember – if you focus on task at hand, you will accomplish a lot.

6. Organize your research. You will no doubt find so much information on your subject. Set yourself up with a file or notebook that is only for your article information. I can’t tell you HOW you should set this up because I don’t know you. But if you want to read an outstanding book on creating ezines then you should check out “Too Busy To Create A Profitable Ezine” by Ann Rusnak. It’s one of best books I’ve read. http://www.getresultsquicker.com/services.htm

7. Write often. Practice makes (almost) perfect. It truly DOES get easier more you do it. Don’t get discouraged. If your first article isn’t all that good, write another one. Then another.

There are so many “tips” and “suggestions” we could go through. We could be here for hours – but there are already so many good books on this subject. The bottom line is that you need to make that commitment to yourself if you want to write successfully, whether it’s for your own ezine or to submit to article databases.

Writing, for most people, requires a little patience. Go easy on yourself. Keep trying. As I am just starting to learn – easier it gets, more rewarding it gets. And it gets more enjoyable. And as I am also learning, I am starting to get a bigger flow of traffic.

After all is said and done, isn’t that overall goal?

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> If you would like to reprint this article, please feel fr*e to do so, just as long as this resource box remains with it. Copyright 2003 Michael Ambrosio - Webmaster/Owner http://www.getprofitsnow.com Subscribe - mailto:gpn@inmarkon.com Get Profits Now. Newsletter and tools for your web success. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Michael Ambrosio is the owner and webmaster of Get Profits Now as well as a few other internet businesses.