Battling Writer's BlockWritten by Joi Sigers
"Hitting wall", "Writer's Block", "Brain Cramp", "Drawing a blank"...whatever name it goes by, it's every writer's worst nightmare. "It" defies logic and spits in face of reason. We're writers for writing out loud! Words are our dearest, closest friends. We've been very good to them, and they are normally very good to us. Then, when we least expect it, we can no more string coherent words together than we can fly. It's that evil presence with multiple nicknames, and even when we aren't in its grip, it hovers in back of our minds, letting us know it can spring on us at any time. There've been enough books written on subject to pave a road from Des Moines to Miami. Truth be told, there are enough on my own shelves to cover Iowa alone. Every writer has his or her own "take" on writer's block. The common consensus seems to be: get away from what you're working on for anywhere between several minutes to several days. The belief behind this advice is that longer you try to work through a total blockage of mind, more frustrated you'll get. While there's a great deal of truth behind these teachings, and following this path would be one of least resistance (not to mention a sanity preserver), sometimes this just isn't an option. For example, if you're working on a deadline, you can't kill valuable time. And if you're working for someone else, it isn't your time to kill. You simply haven't luxury of leaving your blank page behind and getting back to it when you're able to fill it up with brilliance. The brilliance had better darned well come right now!
| | Plain speaking –- 4 secrets for getting your book purchasedWritten by Terry Freedman
What can be more infuriating to a potential purchaser of a non-fiction book than chapter headings which give no clue as to their contents? After all, if someone is looking in non-fiction section of a book store, it implies they want facts, not a fancy and “clever” table of contents! Here are 4 sure-fire ways to make your text grab reader’s attention:1. Make sure text on front and back covers is compelling. It should state plainly and simply what book is about. For example: “Buy this book, and learn how to master craft of teaching in 15 lessons”. 2. Why should anyone buy book from YOU? Don’t waste limited space on back cover telling potential reader about your 3 cats – unless it’s a book about cats, of course! Write something like: “The author has been a practising teacher for 13 years, and writes regularly for Teaching Times.” 3. Organise table of contents so that chapters fall into easily-identifiable sections. For example: “Section 1: Before you face your first class; Section 2: The first year” and so on
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