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Writing Fiction From Experiences

Life is a book. No saying can hold more truth than that one short quote. Life is indeed a book waiting to be written. Ideas for the best novels and stories often come from the authors past experiences, what they observe, or what they hear from people around them. Stories often start with an idea that gets stuck in your brain after hearing or seeing something of interest to you and expanding it with other ideas you might have stored in your memory. These ideas may also be figments of your imagination, stemming from dreams, hopes, ambitions, and the what-ifs we tend to ask ourselves every now and then.

Experiencing life is one great story in itself, but having the tenacity to mix it up and write it down takes some skill, some hard work, and a lot of creativity. To come up with a story that is both coherent and interesting, one has to be a bit of a dreamer with an eye for detail and a strong sense of reality. Writing from past experiences also lends some reality to your work of fiction since it is based on different events in different peoples lives or even just one life in particular. Emotions can be expressed accurately enough, depending on how you felt when such an event happened or how you would have felt if that happened to you.

Although some research also needs to be done to give a story some backbone, this may sometimes depend on the storys setting, character orientation, and the places where the events take place. Oftentimes, locations for fictional stories are replicas of real-life locations, mixed and matched with other real places and venues, then renamed. People in the stories can be derived from people you meet in real life, people you admire, people you abhor, or even people you come across once or twice in your entire lifetime.

Writing from experiences can reflect past hurts and disappointments as well as hidden fantasies and dreams. It is, in effect, like putting down your heart and soul on paper. It is a writers legacy to share with his reader part of who he is by writing from the heart, for in doing so, the story becomes more real and more captivating due to the realism that people can relate to. Falling in love, falling out of love, falling from your bike, falling from a tree all these events can be used to a certain extent in writing, with modifications to who, what, when, and where to suit the needs of the story being penned.

Digging through past experiences to use as elements for your story can sometimes be dangerous. While rewriting these into a fictional story, some of the real events tend to blur into the one being written, which can then warp your own memories of what really happened to you and what is just an elaboration or an add-on to the scene in the tale. Taking care to differentiate one from the other can be somewhat tricky and is a skill that any author has to learn.

Characters in fictional stories, when based on real people you are close to or even people youve only seen from afar, come to life easily if you can picture them in your head. Descriptions come to you in a flash since their picture or image is embedded in your memory. Their personality may or may not be based on the model and could be derived from another person altogether. The main point of writing from experience being mixing and matching events, people, places, and imagination to come up with a story that isnt exactly pure fiction in feel, but fiction in the coming together.

How To Overcome Writers Block

How To Overcome Writer's Block
By: Robert Paul Williams

Everyone has suffered from writer's block at one time or another. It is not uncommon to hear college students sharing stories of how frustrated they felt trying to get through the last writing assignment. Surely, you can picture that timeless image of a journalist with pencil in mouth tearing her hair out in front of her typewriter because the words are just not coming as easiliy as she would like. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to get those creative juices flowing again. Typically, writer's block is most common at the beginning of a writing project. It helps a great deal if you have an outline of what you plan to write. Start with an overall concept then take it in steps from introduction to conclusion. Work backwards if needed. Consider your work environment; do you like background noise or do you prfer silence. Would you be more confortable writing at a library or in front of the television? Is their a difference if you write with a pen versus a pencil? Perhaps writing is easier at a computer screen. Experiment with different settings and you'll see for yourself what helps to boost your productivity. After you have started, you should find the words and concepts just keep flowing. However, if getting started is the hardest part, try "free writing". Simply write whatever comes to mind. Write about the room you are in, what you had for breakfast, or the color of your socks. It doesn't matter what you write about. Once you start writing about something, you will find that you will be able to keep writing. The words will just start to flow out of your brain and onto your paper. If you find yourself getting stuck in the middle of a project, print out what you have written. Take the paper to another room and proofread it. Holding the paper in your hands versus reading from a computer screen should stir different senses. Going to a different room to read will also engage your senses and may be enough to fire up some ideas and end your writer's block. Sometimes, you just need to clear your head and take a break. Go for a walk around the block, throw a load of laundry into the washer or some other small task. You might find a bright idea comes to you the second you start focusing on something else. After a few minutes, you will be able to come back refreshed and ready to write. It is important that you don't give up. Writer's block is a temporary condition. Stay focused and you will get through it.

All That You Wanted To Know About Freelance Writers Jobs

All That You Wanted To Know About Freelance Writers Jobs
by: Geoff P Smith.





You have finally decided to give freelance writers jobs or freelance writing a shot because you are confident about your writing abilities, you have arranged for the set up by putting in place your laptop, internet connection, anti plagiarism software etc and you have also read up a few articles on freelance writers’ jobs and freelance writing. You can also boast of having a few articles published here and there.

And deep down in your bosom you wish to leave your mark in the publishing world and want to earn a name for yourself as a freelance writer. But have you weighed up all the options before you? In this article I shall talk about a few avenues open for a freelance writer which will let you earn a decent living for yourself.

Freelance writers’ jobs - Magazines

Freelancers can find a good freelance writing job for themselves in magazines. There are many kinds of magazines nowadays on every imaginable kind of topic, be it sports, photography, fashion, women’s magazine, movie magazine, health and fitness or teen magazine etc. Try to get a freelance writing job with a magazine that fits your interest bill, for example, if you are more comfortable writing about sports issues, then go for reputed sports magazines.

Start off with a few niche topics which are close to your heart, say, lifestyle topics and try to stick to these and earn a name for yourself in that particular niche before thinking about working your way up. You will find it is far easier to write about something that pleases or interests you.

With time and practice, as your fields of interests and expertise will increase, try to expand your freelance writing horizons and try out your options with more magazines. When you start out you may have to concentrate on fillers, don’t expect your article to appear as the cover story. But they bring in good money and are fun to write.

Greetings cards freelance writing

You can also consider dipping your fingers in the greetings card segment where you have to write out the content for traditional paper cards and e cards while taking a break from regular writing. As a freelancer you can also try your hand at tee shirt or bumper sticker, magnet, doormats or ceramic mugs slogan writing.

Freelancers are appointed to write those cheeky one liners that you see on tee shirts or mugs. And the pay is pretty good, though there is no fame. But you may get paid for each word you write. As with any project, your skill is enhanced with each and every word that you write. So don't dismiss this type of work as being beneath you.

Posters freelance writing job

You can also consider the freelance writers jobs of poster writing where you can earn through royalties and a steady stream of money may trickle into your bank account for a poster content that you wrote perhaps 4 years back. It is a nice surprise to receive a payment when you are least expecting it. Of course you fully deserve that bonus whether it is a surprise or not.

Resume writing

Another viable freelance writing job for which freelancers are regularly appointed is resume writing which is different from funny anecdotes or flowery prose creation. You could advertize your services both online and offline. In resume writing, freelancers will have to use attention grabbing, crisp and professional language. It is encouraging when you find that your skills are being enhanced with more work.

10 Ways To Earn Even More Money From Writing

10 Ways to Earn Even More Money From Writing
by: Ruth Barringham





One thing that every writer wants to know is how to earn more money from writing. This is because being a writer can be a fickle business sometimes and so you need to have as many sources of income as possible.

You also need to use your time wisely to be able to write as much as you can and be as productive as you can. You need to use the phrase "Don't Get It Right, Get It Written" as often as possible to get you off the starting blocks and writing as much as you can, instead of trying edit your work and be as perfect as possible as you go along. It's so much easier to just start writing and don't stop till you've finished and THEN go back and edit your work later. Remember that writing and editing and two different jobs and should never be done together.

But what you really want to know is how to earn more money from writing. And below are 10 easy ways for you increase your writing income.

1. Write more. I know it sounds obvious that writers should be writing but you'd be surprised at how many people call themselves writers yet they hardly ever write. To improve your writing, get a book of an author you like (or a writer whose style you admire) and copy their work. Just sit and copy out their writing word-for-word. This will give you a really good understanding of their writing style and how you can incorporate it into your own writing.

2. Read more. Successful writers are avid readers as well as being prolific writers. Reading improves you knowledge, exposes you to different writing styles, and can also help you to come up with great ideas for your own writing.

3. Find more freelance markets. If you want to make more money you need to sell more writing. So spend a bit of time every week surfing online and browsing through magazines looking for new writing markets. You can also sign up for regular writers ezines that contain current writing markets. Always be on the look out for new writing opportunities.

4. Submit more queries. Once you've found new markets you then need to make sure that you do actually get your writing published. So make a definite decision to send out at least 5 queries or short stories to different writing markets every week. And then make sure you do it, even if you have to get up early or stay up late.

5. Try different writing projects. Instead of sticking to the same kind of things you write, try branching out into something new. For instance, if you mostly write articles for women's magazines, trying writing jokes, verse, puzzles or children's stories and find new places to submit them.

6. Write and publish eBooks. EBooks are a great way to earn a passive income. You can write an eBook in as little as 24 hours and publish it online in only a few minutes. And because there's no cost involved in selling eBooks you can write as many as you want for as long as you want.

7. Write and publish books. There's nothing more wonderful for a writer than to feel the first copy of your book in your own hands. It's so easy now to publish your own books that there's nothing to stop you from becoming a prolific author and publish several books a year.

8. Learn new writing. There may be areas of writing that you don't feel proficient in. Maybe you've never really tried writing fiction, or, like me, you want to learn copywriting or SEO writing. Choose a area of writing that you've never tried before but would like to learn, and then learn to do it.

9. Invest in your writing. Don't be afraid to spend money to further your writing career. Splash out on some really fancy notebooks and expensive pens or treat yourself to a new computer. Or how about taking a seminar or a writing course or maybe there's a book about writing that you've been thinking about buying. Just open your wallet and buy whatever it takes to help you write more and earn more.

10. Write more. Now you probably notice that this is the same advice in step number one. But it is so important that it needs mentioning more than once. To be a great writer you need to be great at writing and the more you write, the more natural writing will be for you and so the better a writer you'll become. As you write more and more your words will flow onto the paper (or computer monitor) more easily and so your writing will sound more natural. Never stop writing.

The bottom line is that writers write. They always write. When a writer is not writing, they are thinking about writing. And when they're not writing nor thinking about writing, they are reading about writing. So if you want to be a writer, be the very best you can and start writing now.