How to Catch Writing Bug

By Stephen Bucaro

If you earn income as a writer, or use writing as a marketing tool, you know how difficult it can be at times to write. I started writing for my website and newsletter a few years ago. Sometimes it would be two or three weeks between articles. Sometimes writing would be torture. Then one day I caught writing bug.

Now I write two or three articles each day. I don't have to struggle for topic ideas. I have thousands of good ideas to choose from. Instead, now I struggle to limit scope of areas that I will write about. What happened to cause this change? I caught writing bug.

The writing bug is contagious, and by reading this article, you too will catch writing bug!

How to Choose a Topic

The most difficult part of writing process is choosing a good topic. A good topic is one that other people want to read about and one that is interesting enough for you to write about. Here's how to create a notebook full of great topic ideas.

- Use a three-ring notebook as an idea file.

Your idea notebook should have two parts. The first part is sheets where you jot down ideas whenever they pop into your head. The second part is tabbed dividers where you keep reference material and partially written articles.

Where do ideas come from? Everywhere! Ideas can come from TV news or any TV show. They can come from a book, newspaper, or magazine. They can come from web. Ideas can come from a conversation with a friend. All of these sources are sending information and ideas to you.

After you learn how to catch ideas, your idea notebook will be bulging with great ideas and research information for article and book topics. You don't need to plagerize or copy other peoples' work. Your article should be nothing like material that you get an idea from because you have "writer's attitude". Below are some thoughts from a person with writer's attitude.

- I can explain topic better. - I know more about topic. - I disagree with this source. - I can approach that topic from another angle. - I can elaborate more on that topic. - I can write a more concise article. - I can break information up into more readable short articles. - I can write a more comprehensive article. - I can write a more up-to-date article. - I can rewrite that topic and include examples.

When an idea hits you, write it down in first part of your idea notebook. If idea comes from an article, tear article out, punch holes in it, and save it behind a tab in second part of your idea notebook.

Now when you need an idea, just flip through your idea notebook. Eventually your idea notebook will contain thousands of great ideas to choose from.

- One surprising source of topic ideas is material that you wrote previously. You can apply writer's attitude to your own articles.

How to Write Article

The second most difficult part of writing process is actually writing article.

Copyright © 2004 Aspire2write.com

Far too many inexperienced writers create flat, stereotypical characters: brave fireman, damsel in distress, strict schoolmistress. The best characters are those who evoke emotions within reader – fear, admiration, affection, laughter, horror… If writer fails to make us care about characters, no matter how ingenious plot, we will toss story aside without a second thought.

Every character should be unique. There are no two people in this world exactly same. Each of us has an individual personality; everything we do derives from governing aspects of that personality. The following factors contribute to our uniqueness: Names Appearance Possessions / props Speech Body language Habits Behaviour Background Major traits

These factors are best used in combination. For example, Charlie’s broken spectacles combine with his habit of tripping over things. Natasha’s boasting photographs of her new house combine with her loud voice that demands to be heard. A character who displays only one of these factors is nothing short of mundane. Let’s look at these issues more closely.

1) Names

Everyone needs a name. Names identify who we are; they can be associated with status, be notorious, unusual, or nondescript. Some beginning writers struggle over naming their characters. Names often hold symbolic association. Pip in Great Expectations is like a seed growing through childhood to adulthood. Lemuel Gulliver is ‘gullible’ in his travels through Lillput, Laputa and beyond. A character should not be given first name that pops into your head. It requires more thought than that.

2) Appearance

We do not remember every detail of someone’s appearance, but hone in to something that differentiates them from others. In Harry Potter, Ron Weesley’s distinguishable feature is his red hair. In Edmond Rostand’s play Cyrano de Bergerac, title character has a large nose. Appearance can be used to reveal personality moreover. For example, someone with dirty fingernails, besides being unclean, is far from a perfectionist; they are neither fussy nor obsessive. The relationship between appearance and reality has always fascinated authors. Appearances can be used to deceive after all. Frankenstein’s monster is inhumanly ugly and yet his natural impulses are benevolent. Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray is stunningly beautiful in everything but his soul, his reality, which is as foul as rotting canvas hidden out of sight.

3) Possessions and props

Appearance ties in closely with personal possessions (or props). Everyone has possessions, including their homes, clothes, books, and cars. Even a homeless beggar views street corner on which he sleeps as his own. Let’s look at more examples. Margaret never leaves house without her bulging handbag. Charlie wears a pair of broken spectacles fastened together with sticky tape. Natasha goes nowhere without a photograph album containing pictures of her new five-bedroom house. Such concrete objects reveal aspects of character. Margaret carries her handbag, stuffed with everything she could ever need, because she feels insecure without it. Charlie is so clumsy that he doesn’t bother to buy a new pair of spectacles for he will only sit on them again. Natasha’s photographs scream out, “I am a shameless show-off!”

4) Speech

Speech evokes personality, both what is said, content, and way in which it is said, manner. Nick is arrogant; his speech is long, loud, and self-interested. Emma’s occasional social shyness, on other hand, is mirrored in her short speeches. Sometimes she only utters a monosyllable in reply to a prying question. Content and manner, moreover, reflect social class. A university lecturer will use different language than a pub barmaid (even if talking about same subject.) Also note that people have their own set of speech idioms: Nick waffles, “etc, etc” at end of each sentence; Emma utters, “don’t you think” to engage her listener's approval.

5) Body language