The Clever Apprentice

Although significant website traffic to your site can seem to be an uphill battle, once again the pen is the clear winner. Other than free search engine traffic, publishing articles remains as one of the few truly effective ways to get targeted traffic to your site.

If you haven’t already tried your hand at writing an article, it may seem like a pretty daunting task, especially if you don’t think you have the necessary skills. Anyone can write and submit an effective article and it’s easier than you may think.

There is a certain art to writing an article, however, but it doesn’t really require any special skills. You don’t need a degree to write an article and you don’t need to be a programmer to submit your articles to ezines, blogs or any other article distributor to have your article published.

The art of writing an article is in the plan.

If you expect to achieve any amount of success in anything you do, you need to have a well thought out plan and writing an article for publication is no exception. Fortunately, after you have developed your plan, the hard part will be done.

Here are some of the basic elements you should include in your plan to write an effective article:

The first step is to decide what you want to write about but, more importantly, decide what it is you know about your topic that the majority of your readers don’t already know. If you think you don’t know enough about your topic to write an article, do some research.

Albert Einstein once said that he didn’t clutter his mind with information he didn’t need but he knew where to find it if he needed it. There’s a wealth of information available and with a little homework, you’ll have more than enough information for your article in no time.

The next step is to make a list of the main points of your topic. Pick one you want to expand and focus your article around that point. It’s easy to get carried away and to try to pack too much information into a single article. Save the other main points of your topic for other articles.

The next step is to establish the sub-points, if any, of the main point you would like to convey to your readers. How can you further explain the point of your article? For example, what do you feel is important for your readers to know and what pitfalls should they avoid? Point out vulnerabilities and solutions.

The next step is to determine what you want your readers to get out of your article. Simply offering information will read like a text book and won’t be very interesting. Challenge your readers to think about what you’re saying and how they can put it to use in a way they haven’t thought of before — peak their interest.

The next step to decide the ‘color’ of your article. By ‘color’ I mean the style you would like your article to have. For example, your article could be formal, informal, humorous, serious, casual, general, personal — you get the idea.

Now that we’ve gone over the steps to create an article, now let’s put them in order and fill in the blanks.

#1) Decide what the main topic of your article will be.

#2) Establish the sub-points, if any, of your main topic.

#3) Determine what you want your readers to get out of your article.

#4) Pick a ‘color’ for your article — the style you would like to use.

#5) Create a rough draft of your article.

#6) Edit your article. (have someone read your article and offer suggestions)

#7) Check your grammar and spelling.

#8) Create a title for your article. (keep it simple and catchy)

#9) Create a ‘teaser’ for your article. (a ‘teaser’ is a short, 2 or 3 sentence description of the contents of your article)

#10) Create a ‘bio’. (a ‘bio’ is a short, 2 or 3 sentence description of who your are and your qualifications. Remember to put a link to your website in your ‘bio’)

#11) List 4 or 5 of the keywords that relate to your article. (some article distributors require them)

#12) Submit your article to article distributors. (that’s a topic for another article)

The hardest part of writing articles is actually writing and submitting your first one. The more articles you write, the easier and more enjoyable it gets.

So, go ahead — start writing and submitting articles and watch your website traffic skyrocket!

For more website traffic ideas visit http://www.starttheprofits.com.

Mike Burke is the author of numerous articles and has an affection for website marketing. Learn how to drive tons of targeted traffic to your site without spending a dime on advertising.
Visit us at http://www.starttheprofits.com.

Structure in the form of frameworks, work processes and goals enhances creative output:

a) Short term goals (incremental productivity) produce more output than a “do your best” approach. Writing four pages a day completes a words-on-paper first draft screenplay in one month. A “do your best” or “waiting for inspiration” approach can take months or years. Witness the untold number of people with unfinished manuscripts under their beds.

b) Work processes such as separating creative from critical thinking and other techniques help to a) unblock the mind, b) tap into tacit knowledge, c) trigger the mind into working at various cognitive levels and d) apply a) and b) and c) to the areas of problem identification and idea generation and evaluation.

c) Frameworks reduce complex problems into their component intellectual parts. For example, story structure can be reduced to three or four acts or The Hero With A Thousand Faces (Campbell, 1973). Frameworks increase output by reducing complex problems into smaller, more manageable problem solving exercises. Frameworks tell the screenwriter where to start, where to finish, what to write and what should be happening at a particular stage of the story.

Additionally, a structured approach improves performance in a number of ways, including:

a) Structure triggers prolific production and simply being prolific improves performance and quality. The single best creative product tends to appear at that point in the career when creator is being most prolific. Experience refines knowledge and methodology towards optimal levels.

b) Structure triggers engagement and simply engaging in the tasks results in problem identification and stimulates the mind into working on those problems at various cognitive levels, resulting in inspiration. Screenwriters often find that their best ideas come to them when they are in the middle of writing a screenplay.

c) Structure triggers problem identification which in turn triggers incubation. Problems incubate until answers become apparent. Increasing the incidence and frequency of problem identification increases the incidence and frequency of insight.

d) Increased problem identification (coupled with motivation) increases the incidence of solution seeking, through active search for stimuli and intellectual cross pollination through networks and collaboration.

e) Radical shifts (originality) occur through sustained incremental change. By incrementally modifying output, the distance between the original and final versions increases. Radical shifts sometimes result from dramatic events or conditions but the vast number of gains accrue from continuous incremental improvement.

f) Quality gains, measured on many levels, are result of sustained incremental changes.

The Hero’s Journey and various story structure templates can be found at http://www.managing-creativity.com.

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

**********************************

You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com.

Once you have decided upon the best format for your ebook,
your next step will be the design process. No matter which
format you choose, one of the most important factors in
determining your ebook’s overall success is your presentation.
Your ebook should not only look professional in design, but
should also be well organized and easily navigated. In
addition, your ebook should include images that will enhance
its appearance and compliment your subject matter.

Although you can design your ebook using an application of
your choice, for the purpose of this article, we will focus on
designing your ebook with Microsoft Word.

When you purchase and install Adobe Acrobat, a shortcut
button will be added to your Microsoft Word toolbar. This
button will enable you to instantly convert your word
document into a PDF document.

When you begin designing your ebook, think of each page you
create as a page of a book, because that’s exactly what it is.
Your ebook is a book in electronic format. Although the
structure of your ebook may vary, here is a basic guideline to
assist you:

Opening Page

The first page of your ebook will represent your book cover.
It should contain an image or logo that will compliment your
ebook. This page should also include your ebook’s title,
followed by an opening statement.

Foreword

The next portion of your ebook may contain a Foreword with
information in regard to your copyrights, disclaimers or other
important information.

Instructions

Your Foreword may be followed by instructional information
in regard to using your ebook, such as navigation. Your
instructions might include an overview of how to navigate
your ebook and even some screenshots.

Table of Contents

A Table of Contents will assist your readers in easily locating
each section of your ebook.

When writing your text in Microsoft Word, you are provided
with a number of options to assist you in formatting your
pages in a specific layout. This powerful program will not only
enable you to insert page numbers, headers, footers,
borders and images, but it will also create your Table of
Contents for you.

Creating Your Table of Contents will be one of your last steps
in designing your ebook. In order for Microsoft Word to create
your Table of Contents, you must first apply specific heading
styles to the chapter headings that you would like to be
displayed within your Table of Contents.

To add a style to your chapter headings, highlight your text
and click on the style drop-down box on the left side of your
toolbar and select Heading1. You can edit your Heading1 style
to display your heading in the font and size of your choice.

If you would like to display any subtitles beneath your titles,
simply follow the same procedure above. However, instead of
selecting Heading1, select Heading2 and so on.

To build your Table of Contents, click on the page where you
would like to insert your Table of Contents. Click on “Insert”
then on “Index and Tables” and select the Table of Contents
tab. Select your preferred format and Word will instantly
create your Table of Contents.

Word builds your Table of Contents by searching for headings
with specified styles. It then sorts the headings according to
their heading level, references their page numbers, and then
displays the Table of Contents within your document.

Once you create your Table of Contents, your document can
be easily navigated by clicking on any page number within
your Table of Contents. This will enable your readers to
instantly jump to the corresponding chapter headings within
your document.

Introduction

Your introduction should follow your Table of Contents and
might contain an overview of your ebook’s subject matter or
whatever you’d like. Your introduction will be a prelude to
your chapters.

Chapters

The next part of your ebook will contain your chapters. Your
chapter titles should be displayed in a larger, bold font. Each
new chapter should start at the top of a new page.

There are a number of ways you can spice up your ebook’s
appearance and give it a professional look and feel. Here are
a few ideas to get you started:

Inserting Page Numbers

You can insert page numbers simply by clicking on “Insert”
then “Page Numbers.” You will be presented with several
formatting options for positioning, alignment and styles. If
you would like to add additional text with your page numbers,
you can use the “Header and Footer” option.

Headers and Footers

Headers and Footers can be used to insert specific
information at the top and/or on the bottom of each of your
pages. To insert these fields into your pages, click on “View”
then on “Header and Footer.” A header and footer area will
appear at the top and bottom of each page. You can type
in your text and/or use the toolbar to insert your information
into your pages. You only have to insert the information into
the “Header and Footer” area of your first page and it will be
displayed on every page.

Borders

Borders can be used to enhance your ebook’s appearance.
To add a border to each of your pages, click on “Format”
then on “Borders and Shading.” Click on the “Page Border”
tab and select your border style and color.

Images

Just as borders can be used to enhance your ebook’s
appearance, images can also be used. Try to select images
that will enhance your reader’s experience and compliment
your ebook’s focus.

To insert an image within your page, click on “Insert” then on
“Picture” and select an option.

Take your time and make sure you use Word’s powerful
features. It will assist you in creating a great looking ebook.
If you’re not sure how to do something, simply click on “Help”
and it will guide you through the process.

About the Author

Shelley Lowery is the author of Ebook Starter. A complete
ebook design kit that takes you step by step through
designing, creating and marketing your own ebook. Give
your ebook a professional look in just a few simple steps
with over 100 ebook interface and cover templates.
http://www.web-source.net/ebookstarter.htm

Research for news or feature stories is very different to
academic study. Time limits or ‘deadlines’ are usually more
critical and the depth of information required is much less. In
journalism, research will be for background information and for
the purposes of finding people you can interview for expert
comment or analysis. These are called ’sources’. In news
journalism, a single source is often used in an article but
feature writers use several sources.

Most organisations have designated employees who deal with media
enquiries. They are usually called a press officer and work in
the press office. But they may be a marketing person or even
staff at a public relations company. The press office will
supply you with news releases, brochures and leaflets, known as
‘hand-out’ material. Press officers are usually helpful, all too
aware that today’s journalism student or writing enthusiast may
be tomorrow’s Fleet Street staffer. They will answer your
questions and may assist you to arrange an interview with a
source which, in television, is called unflatteringly a ‘talking
head’. Adding your contact details to a press officer’s mailing
list can result in invitations to potentially valuable sources
of stories like product launches and news conferences. Potential
interviewees can be found using publications including:

* The Directory of British Associations, available in most
reference libraries. * The Hollis Press and Public Relations
Annual * The Writers and Artists Yearbook * The Guardian Media
Guide which lists a range of media contacts and the names,
telephone numbers and websites for local councils, government
departments, hospitals, police services, courts, prisons,
museums, theatres and embassies.

A good reference library will have a variety of specialist
directories as well CD-ROMS containing back issues of newspapers
and journals. It is worthwhile joining as more than one library.
London has a number of these, for instance Westminster Reference
Library, the British Library and the Royal Institute for
International Affairs, which researchers can use by prior
appointment.

The internet is now an easy and standard source for research.
There are a number of major search engines on the net and a few
like Ask Jeeves at askjeeves.co.uk and Answers.com are
particularly user-friendly because you can enter a question. All
the major newspapers have searchable archives, for example
guardianunlimited.co.uk. Though the internet is a great
resource, for accuracy, be careful to use authoritative sites
and double check facts when not doing this. For example, though
the online encyclopaedic resource wikipaedia.org is a boon,
remember that it is written by volunteers who are not
necessarily experts (anybody who wants to contribute can) and
therefore information on it needs to be cross-referenced with
other sources.

It is not uncommon for people who are new to journalism to spend
an inordinate amount of effort on research and then leave little
time for the writing of an article. The important consideration
in the first stage of constructing your piece is the topicality
of the story, its relevance to a target audience and interesting
angle. This will provide the necessary focus for your research,
saving precious time and labour. The UK’s citizen journalism
website the-latest.com has a useful section on resources for
would-be journalists.

Character Background - Bringing the past to present

Once you have your character defined, you have given them the
appropriate tags, personalities, and built them a background,
how do you reveal the knowledge they posses from the background
into the present? How much of the past do you reveal to your
readers at one time? No more than is needed to make your reader
understand your character’s emotional state of mind. If you
think back into your own background, you will see that attitude,
and behaviours have been set over long-time conditioning. Just
as fears have been set from past bad experiences. You need to
tie your characters attitude to a key element from their past.
You can try bringing that part of the past through a mental
picture that flashes into your characters mind.

Example: Your character has an absolute fear of snakes. Perhaps
they were bite as a child. One way you can reveal this
information is the present is: Cara shone her flashlight into
the mouth of the cave. Everything looked ok but she couldn’t get
rid of that dreadful feeling in the pit of her stomach. Making
her way into the cave, she suddenly froze. Snakes! In a flash
she was back in the blackness of the dessert so long ago -
feeling the sharp sting just above her ankle; the feeling of the
dry scaly coil wrapping itself around her leg, slowly moving
upwards. Cara’s control exploded. Staggering backwards, arms
thrashing, she screamed; a raw, incomprehensible, garbled cry.
A fragrance of fresh baked apple pie could transform a character
from the place they are back to a time spent with their mother
or grandmother. The familiar scent of a perfume that has a
calming effect on a child.

Abruptly there was a loud crash. My eyes widen with fear.
Stretching as far as my seat belt would allow laughter fills me
at the sight of the tiny people walking away. A loud roar wipes
the laughter away. All the fear hiding inside me is suddenly
back as we take off. I grab my mother’s hand tightly and squeeze
my eyes shut. My small body is pushed into the softness of the
blue seat, as we gather speed. Unexpectedly, the pressure is
gone. My head spins towards the window as my eyes fly open.
Wispy streaks of white fluff fly by as we race through the light
blue sky with no feeling of movement. My mother’s smile says,
everything is fine. I close my eyes filled with a peaceful calm,
the fear of the unknown chased away by the comfort of love and
the familiar smell of perfume. There is no reason to provide
background for every little thing your character does or knows;
sometimes it is enough that a character has a fear or a love for
something. However if it is an important part of your characters
trait you now have one way to express that background in order
to handle the problem or situation.