Wake Up Your Writing Spirit

The Blogfest 2005 Writing Contest has only been running for two weeks and already the results are overwhelming. And not because we’re getting far more entries than we expected. It’s because along with entries, we’re also getting heartfelt messages from writers all over the world. I’ve run a few contests before and received quite a few entries, but I’ve never been personally emailed and thanked by so many writers.

What’s the difference with this contest? I think the main reason is that the idea actually came from writers. Even though the writers at our company work in publishing, they find it a little sad that there’s so much focus on writing what can sell instead of writing what truly matters to you. They wanted a contest that would allow people to write whatever they wanted to write.

From that idea came Blogfest, a contest designed to encourage all writers to get the project of their dreams done. Unlike most contests, we decided not to offer publication and not to pay the prize for a completed work. Instead, we decided to offer the prizes based on how much the writing project means to the writer. This is one contest that isn’t about whether or not your work can sell or about what your writing will mean to someone else. It’s about what it means to you.

To enter, we asked writers to tell us about the one thing they’ve always wanted to write and to tell us what it would mean to them to write it. Now, after only two weeks, we have an inbox full of emails from people. Entries so far have included grandparents wanting to write their life story for their grandchildren, aspiring novelists, professional writers looking for the chance to write something for themselves and not for money, and a young woman wanting to capture and preserve her mother’s family recipes.

These people have entered and then sent us an extra email just to thank us for the opportunity. They’ve told us how just writing about the project has made them so excited and full of joy. They have enthusiasm and feel delight just for thinking about finally writing. And we’ve started reading the entries and the joy is there too. As a publisher, I’m used to reading submissions and contest entries. It’s often a joy but there’s rarely as much life as there is in these submissions. Reading them, I can feel that people have that spark of excitement that is only motivated by something much greater than money or even publication. It’s the joy of doing what your heart’s always wanted to do.

There is more to writing than publication and money and this competition is bringing out the real spirit of writing.

My message to all writers is to think about what matters to them. Think about that one thing you’ve always dreamed of writing. I challenge you to write down what completing that project would mean to you. If you feel that spark, I challenge you to commit to your project and get it written. Not because you can make money from it, but because it means something to you.

This contest has made me see more clearly than ever that there is far more to writing than making money. There will only be a few winners to Blogfest, and choosing them is going to be the toughest job we do all year. But I hope this idea can reach further than that. I hope all writers will listen to their hearts and complete their projects. I hope that just thinking about actually doing it will wake up that writing spirit that is in so many people.

About The Author

Shelley Wake is one of the organizers of Blogfest 2005 and the manager and editor of Writing Stuff. http://www.writingstuff.com.

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Generating Massive Income writing Articles

Using specialized article marketing techniques specifically designed to generate income, my life has changed completely. Before I started marketing articles, the traffic to my sites was growing VERY slowly, and so was my income. One month I made $3.67 from my ads, the next month I made $5.21. Hardly enough to live on!

Most people writing articles concentrate on the increased traffic an article can produce. In the course of developing my strategy, I researched hundreds, maybe thousands, of articles on the subject. Many people provided great information on the subject, but failed to provide a link to their site. Some of the author resource boxes displayed nice looking photos, but no link. When links were included, many of them pointed to their home page. It was obvious to me that these authors were either mistaken in their strategy, or trying to build traffic to their site.

When I began marketing articles, I focused on the income they could generate instead of the additional traffic they created. All of the articles I write are targeted to correspond to a product or service I’m promoting. This strategy has worked extremely well for me. In my first month using this method, I wrote seven articles and made $167. This represented a huge increase over prior months. Now, after applying this strategy for a little over six months, I make several thousand per month and it’s growing very nicely.

The reason for this is simple. I believe that people who read my articles are more likely to buy from me. If readers like my style of writing, the information I provide, and the design of my article, they will click my links. If they do not like the article, they will most likely leave the article before finishing it. For that reason, only those interested in my work will click my link.

In addition, all of my articles are targeted to compliment the product I’m promoting. So, if they liked the article, there is a good chance that they will be interested in my promotion.

I close all of my articles with an offer for more information. I prefer to use a free information offer, as many more people will click through for a free report. If instead, you ask readers to: ‘Visit our site for more information,’ only about one third as many readers will click through. For that reason, I prefer the following: For more information on the subject, download our FREE REPORT at http://tinyurl.com/3a4s2r

About The Author

Jo Mark is an Internet marketing authority specializing in the generation of income through the writing and placement of articles. The successful ebooks have helped countless individuals generate article income.

Retiring after 20 years as an Investment Advisor, I now operate several websites. Visit us at http://mysite.verizon.net/vzer1vjr/jomark3/free12.html to earn cash writing articles.

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Creative Writing: Tips To Make Your Creative Written Work Sell

Creative writing is one of the most difficult jobs in the world. However, you really don't need a special talent for it. What you need is a paper, a pen and a very good imagination that is worthy of telling your story to other people.

With good imagination, you can really capture your audience's minds and keep them reading your work. However, you have to know that a good imagination is simply not enough when you are writing. You also need to consider quite a few things first before you start writing.

It is a fact that many authors find it hard to write an article or a novel. So, if you are experiencing difficulty in writing an article or a novel, it is just natural. The first thing you need to consider is to have an appropriate environment in order for you to concentrate on work. Create your own writing environment to enable you to write more effectively and think more effectively. Consider the clothes you wear, the music you want to hear while writing, the temperature of the room, the lighting, the chair and a lot more. You should be comfortable with all these things. If you are, you will find it easier to write.

You will also need to have a writing schedule. You have to remember that nothing can be more frustrating when writing when someone is always barging in your writing time. You need to know when you can write in order to avoid interruptions from friends, family, co-workers or whomever that may interrupt you when you are writing. You have to concentrate on writing so you have to turn off anything that will interrupt you. Consider diverting all calls to a machine, turn off your pager, mobile phones, PDA and others that may interrupt you. Remember that you will be in another world in creative writing; you have to get out of the real world.

It is recommended that you should write when you are at your mental best or when you are not tired. However, some of the best novels were written on hours that would normally be your bedtime, try and write during these hours and determine if it will indeed affect your writing positively. If it doesn't, you should stick to your regular schedule where your mental state is at its prime.

If you are writing about a character, you should relate to them. Imagine you are that character and know their different behaviors and talk to an imaginary character. By doing this, you can effectively show your characters personality and will definitely make your readers think as if the character is real.

Writing is a very hard task to do. It will affect you physically and mentally. If you want to ease the tension, you have to invest in good writing tools that are readily available in the market. A fast desktop computer is a great way to start and as well as a writing software program that will enable you to write more effectively. It is also recommended that you purchase a large flat screen monitor to make it easier for your eyes.

These are some of the things you need for you to be able to write more effectively. Creative writing is a very tiring task to do, by following these advices, you will definitely write a good novel that everyone will surely buy.

About The Author

Mario Churchill is a freelance author and has written over 200 articles on various subjects. For more information checkout http://www.ideacenter.com and http://my-updates.info.

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