Communication Beat

We’re critical creatures. Oh boy, are we ever critical! And when it comes to our expectations of ourselves, we’re truly merciless.

But wait a minute. Is that necessary? Is it productive? Is it even kind to ourselves and others? Accepting praise is a real art; accepting praise for what we consider a less-than-sterling performance requires an Oscar-winning performance!

Here are things to consider as you prepare yourself for that performance:

1. Remember that you are your own worst critic. Unless your admirers are, themselves, experts in your field they aren’t likely to pick up on, or care about, any small glitches in your presentation. What they will recall is their overall impression, or the part of your talk that is of particular interest to them.

2. You are the Speaker because you’re considered to be an expert in your subject or to have special or important information. Your listeners, in most cases, are there to learn from you. You know things that your audience wants to know.

3. Lay your ego aside. Forget how you are feeling about your performance. Don’t let it get in the way of accepting your admirers’ praises.

4. If you feel overcome with shyness at being complimented, think of your interaction as being the same as you would have with a close friend. Then relax and be yourself.

5. When a person is saying complimentary things about you or your presentation, she or he may well be wanting to be recognized by you as being a worthwhile or educated person.

George Bernard Shaw, in The Devil’s Disciple, wrote: “The worst sin to our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that’s the essence of inhumanity.”

6. Your admirer may feel intimidated by your expertise and real or assumed “position” and may stutter and stammer while trying to find the words to express their admiration. Be patient. Do not fill in their sentences for them. Simply look encouraging and give them time to get their words in order. Priceless or original comments often emerge if you allow the time and attention.

7. Please do not look over their head to see if there’s someone more important waiting to talk to you.

8. And do not, please, turn away from an admirer who has waited to thank you, and engage in lengthy “buddy” conversations with family, friends or peers while your admirer cools her/his heels, feeling increasingly insignificant!

9. If you must interrupt your attention to an admirer, excuse yourself, do what you need to do, and return your attention to your admirer promptly, with a brief word of apology.

10. Remember always that you are at the service of your audience. Serve them by treasuring their comments and their thank you’s.

11. You may be special in your field. But, as a human being, each member of your audience is every bit as special and valuable as you are. Treat them that way!

Carole McMichaels, Author: “Fearless Public Speaking: How To Get Rid of Your Stage Fright and Prepare and Deliver a Winning Presentation.” A lifetime as a performing musician and composer, coupled with over 30 years as a therapist/coach and public speaker has given me a varied and comprehensive background for working effectively with clients on the technical, structural and emotional aspects of public speaking. Besides that, it’s fun!

You are welcome to use this article, for free, to reproduce online or in print. When you do, please print my URL or add a link to my website. Thank you.
http://www.getridofpublicspeakingfears.com

From our deconstruction of hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters at www.managing-creativity.com/

The Hero’s Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the Hollywood movies we have deconstructed are based on this template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.

The Hero’s Journey:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Interpreted metaphorically, laterally and symbolically, allows an infinite number of varied stories to be created.

and more…

Walk the Line (2005) deconstructed

FADE IN: Loop / Context: Folsom prison:

Meeting the Hero / Loop: Cash looking at the saw.

Ordinary World: back at home as a kid.

Foreshadow of the Romantic Challenge: June Carter Cash on the radio.

Foreshadow of the Outer Challenge: Ray (Father) banging on the door.

Building Inner Challenge: Cash with his younger brother in bed.

Hero’s Capabilities: songs are easy.

Developing Outer Challenge: Dad angry while picking cotton.

Building Inner Challenge: Cash walking with his younger brother in the fields.

Building Inner Challenge: the dangerous saw.

Developing Hero’s Capabilities: Cash practicing song writing.

Pushed to confront the Inner Challenge: Ray picks up Jack.

Inner Challenge: Jack dies.

Call to Adventure : “..you’re nothing… he took the wrong son….”

Refusal : running away.

Supernatural Aid

Going on a Journey to meet the Mentor: you’ll be late for the bus.

Goodbye to the Old Self: saying goodbye to the family.

Outer Challenge: no words for Dad.

Crossing the Physical Marker: the road.

New World: in Korea.

Meeting the Shape Shifter: talking to Vivian on the phone.

Pushed Forward: “lets go Cash…; five minutes was up five minutes ago”

Magical Gift : the Folsom prison film.

Guided by the Mentor / Magical Gift: writing the Folsom prison song on his guitar.

First Threshold

First Threshold: lying in bed with Vivian and the kid in Memphis.

Threshold Guardian / Rules: are you going to sell something today?

New World and New Self / Outer Cave: Cash trying to sell door to door.

Foreshadow of the Transformation: watching the shoe shiners.

Foreshadow of the Belly of the Whale: seeing the musicians run into the studio.

Resistance to the Belly of the Whale: the door closes.

Pushing to the Belly of the Whale / Meeting Allies: Cash and his band playing gospel in front of the wives.

Inner Cave: Vivian hides in the toilet; can’t even make rent.

Push and Resistance to the Belly of the Whale: Cash persuades the producer.

Time Pressure: I can’t wait that long.

Resisting the Belly of the Whale and the Transformation: you can’t wear black, you look like you’re going to a funeral.

Belly of the Whale : the producer doesn’t like the gospel derivative.

Pushed to the Physical Separation: “…give me the one song that would sum you up…”

Using the Magical Gift to open the Door: Cash sings Folsom Prison.

Physical Separation : the producer likes the song.

Celebration: Cash tells Vivian the good news.

New World : in concert.

Foreshadow of the Meeting with the Romantic Challenge / Transformation Mentor: seeing June Carter Cash.

Transformation Marker / Devolved State: “nobody follows [the asshole]“

Meeting the Romantic Challenge: June gets caught up in Cash’s guitar string.

Magical Gift: a piece of June’s dress.

Developing the Romantic Challenge ’s Capabilities: June is popular, established and a comic to boot.

Clumsily entering the New World of the Transformation: not used to the light.

Welcomed to the World of the Transformation: Johnny sings in concert, is popular.

Celebrating the Entry: Cash phones Vivian.

Goodbye to the Old World and Self: “Johnny I have to go…”

Developing the Romantic Challenge: June singing.

Romantic Challenge’s backstory: she’s been singing since she was a little girl.

Time pressure: we’re leaving in an hour John.

Trial and Transformation 1:

Developing Characters and Relationships: Cash meets June in the café; referencing all challenges – Ray, Jack, wife etc.

Transforming: moving into the new house.

Resisting the Transformation: Vivian gives Johnny the rules.

Warning: Vivian leaves if he can’t give her what she wants.

Transformation marker: the asshole in the tour bus.

Developing the marker / asshole: we’re all going to hell.

Journey to the Inner Cave: arriving at the hotel.

Inner Cave: Cash tries to kiss June.

Transformation: June has been through a divorce.

Trial and Transformation 2:

Introduced to drugs.

Blowing up the tree.

Johnny in concert; the girl in the blue watching.

Transformed: the asshole has been outdone.

Seeing Elvis.

Taking drugs.

Audrey Parks walks into the room.

Transformation: new baby, Ray getting old.

In the back room with the girls; falling over.

Trial and Transformation 3:

Transformation Mentor’s Challenge: June in the store; told that divorce is a sin.

Meeting Cash in the store.

Walking out with the fishing gear.

Cash fishing with June; romantic tension.

Transformed: Johnny an accomplished singer now.

Transformed: June sings “time’s a wasting” with Cash.

Inner Challenge reminder: June sees the woman in the audience.

Cash kisses June.

Regression

Cash pursues June into her room; “please get away from me…”

Cash tears up the place.

Cash, June and Jerry Lee all playing together now.

Separation : June turns up at the rehearsal, where everyone is drunk and high; June is going home; you don’t walk no line.

Journey to the Sword: Cash singing the Walk the Line song.

Goodbye to the Old Self: selling the house.

Seizing the Sword: a star now; signing a new contract.

New World and New Self: on the hammock, new house; Casita springs.

Near Death Experience:

Outer Challenge: Ray remarks on Cash’s use of drugs.

Shape Shifter Developed: Vivian snappy with Cash.

Transformed: meeting the New June at the performance; married now.

Reward:

Cash follows June out of the concert.

Cash wants to sing with June again.

June introduces Cash onto stage; June sings with Cash again.

Foreshadow of the Atonement: Vivian in the audience.

Atonement : Vivian tells June to stay clear of her children.

Apotheosis : Cash and June singing great together.

Comedic Element: the officers in the lift.

Ultimate Boon:

Cash follows June to her room.

June invites him in.

Cash in bed with June.

Disgust / Denial:

Junes’ children call.

June refuses Cash’s calls; I’m not going to do this.

Cash tops up on the drink and drugs.

Cash collapses on stage.

Magic Flight 1:

The band cancel the tour and leave.

Foreshadow of the Final Conflict: Tell me you don’t love me; I don’t love you.

Foreshadow of the Final Conflict: Where are my pills?

Romantic Challenge’s Challenge: June crying; seeing her kids.

Set up Magic Flight 2: Police arrest Cash for drugs.

Cash arrives home. Vivian’s cold welcome.

Seeing the kids.

Vivian catches significance of June leaving the tour in Vegas.

Vivian sees Cash put up June’s picture.

Vivian smashes June’s picture.

The kids see their parents fighting.

Johnny by the pool.

Magic Flight 1:

Vivian leaves with the kids.

Cash pursues Vivian.

Needing Rescue:

Cash doing drugs with the dealer.

Cash tries to cash the cheque.

Rescue from Without: Love yourself first.

Cash walks home.

Cash buys a new house.

Cash gets some more drugs.

Cash calls June.

Outer Challenge: Ray arrives and notes the truck.

June’s parents arrive.

Outer Challenge: Cash confronts Ray over dinner.

Final Antagonism: you got nothing.

Cash tries to get the truck out of the mud.

Pushed to Confront the Inner Challenge: June’s mother tells her to go down there; he’s all messed up.

Inner Challenge: Cash goes cold turkey.

Drug dealers chased away.

Foreshadow of the Romantic Challenge : June brings a bowl of strawberries; a hug; a second chance.

New Self: June take Cash to church.

Cash starts reading his fan mail; letters from Folsom.

Refusing the Wizened One : the record company resists the Folsom prison gig.

Transformed: Cash with a new voice.

Loop: Cash in the Folsom prison gig.

Confronting Romantic Challenge :

Cash asks June to marry him in the bus.

June closes the door on Cash.

Cash asks June to sing with him.

Cash ask June to marry him on stage.

June resists.

Freedom to Live:

June says yes.

The kiss.

All Challenges Conquered: Cash with his Dad; fishing with June.

Learn more…

The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and other 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. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. 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 at http://managing-creativity.com/.

For an online self publisher to understand the power of image in revenue generation, a careful study of Mike Tyson will help a great deal.

The absolutely amazing thing every self publisher keen on succeeding in their online business should know about this boxer is that long after he had clearly lost his magic on the ring, he was still selling out tickets to his fights. And that is how he was able to attract bigger purses than the current champions and titleholders.

What sells those tickets and still draws huge crowds wherever he goes, is his image. Mike Tyson’s bad boy image is proof that what anybody needs is just the appropriate image, not necessarily a good image. A few Hollywood movie stars have discovered this little secret and are laughing all the way to the bank. They are the ones that sell millions of copies of supermarket tabloids whenever they are on the cover but still get paid double figure millions for every movie appearance they make.

For a self publisher to succeed at what they do, they have to attract the interest of the public. Yet the sad thing is that many self publishers are writers and writers are artists and we all know that artists are built different. Many of them do not have a head for figures or the sort of discipline and consistency that is required to bring success to an SEO campaign to get massive traffic arriving at their sites.

The main weapon many born artist self publishers have is creativity. So why not use what you have and cultivate the sort of image that will draw huge trafic to your blog or site?

Christopher Kyalo is a successful online self publisher. Visit his Self Publisher blog to read the other parts of this article and for other amazing success tips. You can also get his Free Report on 7 Ways To Use PR To Drive Huge Traffic To Your Blog. Get it by subscribing to his email newsletter detailing online self publishing secrets. Subscribe now by sending a blank email to InternetinfoPublishsecrets-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

How to write a sentence.

Writing is rarely easy. This is probably because writing has developed over the millennia. During this time the technique of writing was evolved to meet the need for more accurate communications in language and writing between peoples. Writing was needed to record what was said or what wished to be said over distance and what was agreed.

Communications of all sorts are needed simply to survive. The development of the technique of language and writing was not the result of a desire to establish a literary tradition but to enable the transfer of information and knowledge with simplicity accuracy and precision by leaders in rule trade and war. From this exchange the technique also accommodated the need for natural teachers of ideas in knowledge politics religion social arts and commerce whose job it was to pass on the culture of the older generation to its young.

To become a good writer it is not too far fetched we should employ good writing technique standards already in use by writing a piece every day to get the feel of writing and learn to identify the common problems faced by every other writer.

Most people think unless a writer earns a million dollars a year the writer is no good. This is untrue. Whether a writer receives payment or not is more likely to be due to personality traits and cannot imply of itself good or bad quality in the author’s ability to write. It is true incompetent writers will not be able to sell their work but these writers are by definition – bad writers or not even writers.

Most problems encountered in writing arise from confused thinking – not from the lack of creative power. If we feel we have no creative power this is more likely to be the result of a block of some sort. By block is meant not writers’ block we hear so much about but a more basic block – a conviction we are not cut out for writing. It is not the absence of talent that blocks the writer but probably a misunderstanding of the exact nature of the parts forming a piece of writing.

This article is about getting rid of this misunderstanding.

Realizing a very simple truth clears the problem.

Words build sentences. Sentences build paragraphs. Paragraphs build chapters. Chapters build books.
It follows if the writer can write a sentence then the writer has the potential to write an article or even a book.
The sentence therefore is a basic building block of writing – from this everything or nothing else flows.

Each sentence contains a single idea and only one idea expressed in words. The sentence has a structure. If the sentence does not have this structure the sentence is meaningless – it cannot be understood because it contains an incomplete thought. Neither can it be edited until this structure is complete.

If the sentence is not properly constructed it cannot become part of a paragraph. No paragraph no article or chapter. No article or chapter no book!

A sentence consists of three essential parts:

A Subject
A Verb

An Object.

These three parts must be present if the sentence is to have meaning.

Subject: who or what the sentence is about.
Verb: what is said about the Subject.
Object: what is affected by what is said about the Subject.

Subject The cat The sentence is about – The cat.
Verb sat What is said about the cat is it – sat.
Object on the mat What is affected by the cat sat – on the mat.

How do we decide on the order in which the words are written/?

Consider the alternatives for an even simpler sentence:

1 Cats sleep often.
2 Cats often sleep.
3 Sleep cats often.
4 Sleep often cats.
5 Often sleep cats.
6 Often cats sleep.

Of the six word order sentences only 1 – 2 and 6 seem make sense.

1 Subject verb object.
2 Subject object verb. [This sentence appears to be a reply to a question.]
6 Object subject verb. [This sentence appears to be a reply to a question.]

Most sentences are more detailed than this because each part is too vague.

Which cat is the one in the sentence? The black cat.
How did the cat sit? Very still.
Where was the mat? By the open door.

Now we get:

The black cat sat very still on the mat by the open door.

Note: this sentence is still divided into its three-part structure:

The black cat | sat very still | on the mat by the open door.

Further information is only added in with the part of the sentence to which it refers. The end of each sentence has to be linked with the beginning of the following sentence. This establishes a flow or story line for the reader.

The black cat with the torn ear | sat still and listening | on the mat by the open door in the freezing draught.
The black cat with the torn ear sat still and listening on the mat by the open door in the freezing draught.

It can be seen from this example how a complex sentence can be constructed retaining its basic simple form. This provides an easy way to get all the facts we want to use into the sentence without worrying too much about the writing.

The next step is to construct the second or following sentence.

This will depend on the direction we intend the piece to take. In a work of fiction the next sentence is obviously what happens next to the Subject – the cat – and should flow naturally from the content of the first sentence

The cat got up frightened.
Her black fur rose at a loud cry somewhere in the dark.

Group the sentences next – still listed one under the other – till those about the same specific part of the piece are together. Each group of related sentences form paragraphs.

The black cat with the torn ear sat still and listening on the mat by the open door in the freezing draught. The cat got up frightened. Her black fur rose at a loud cry somewhere in the dark.

We can edit these three lines as follows:

The black cat with the torn ear sat still listening on the mat by the open door in the freezing draught. The cat arched her back ready for any danger. Then her black fur spiked as she heard a long low moan of intense pain outside in the night.

Analyzing these three sentences we obtain the following structure:

The black cat with the torn ear sat still listening on the mat by the open door in the freezing draught.
The cat arched her back ready for any danger.
Then her black fur spiked as she heard a long low moan of intense pain outside in the night.

This is an example of how writing a simple three-sentence paragraph is actually written whether the writer is conscious of doing so or not. Having placed all the facts of the sentence in place we can check for ease of comprehension simplicity accuracy and precision.

Fortunately we have word processors now to make this task of editing easier than it used to be and sentences may be written as they come to mind in and out of context. We may then easily group the sentences for paragraph content and continuity by cut and paste until the paragraph is complete. The writer’s original thought thread or idea has become clear in the final form of the paragraph.

Unclear thinking affects all writers to some degree. No writer is completely immune. Clear thought and expression is the essence of all the arts of which writing perhaps is the one key to understanding all of them.

Many writers strive to write high-density content even though their texts may already be crystal clear. Others aim to continually enrich and enhance their style. A few search endlessly for simplicity.

My very best wishes.

John Blenkin is a retired architect and is now a watercolor painter and article writer. His interests are wide covering both technical and philosophical subjects. He also writes online articles on the technique of watercolor painting.

http://www.freefolios.com/
foka@spidernet.com.cy

When I was a magazine editor, I worked with a freelance writer who could turn deathly-dry subjects like business insurance and corporate taxation into compelling, easy reads. How? By using tools of the fiction writer’s trade.

Whether he interviewed a source in person or on the phone, he amassed an amazing array of details. Then he would craft a narrative–complete with scene-setting details, dramatic tension, and sometimes even dialogue– that would hook the reader after the first five words. His articles would begin something like this: “Even from the 28th floor of the Boring Building in downtown Metropolis, John Doe can hear the rumble and roar of I-89 as it threads through the cloverleaf three blocks south of his office. He knows that many of the Clueless Company’s eighteen-wheelers travel the road every day bearing widgets and whats-its to ports and airports across the country, but Doe never pauses to worry whether they’ll jackknife and spill their precious loads. That’s because Doe, the controller of CC, recently upgraded his company’s liability policy to guarantee $1 billion against losses.”

Many writers would have begun the article with a summary of the issue or an assertion–”It’s important to have liability insurance”– and piled on the facts and statistics. While it’s still possible to write a good article this way, which one would you rather read?
Whether you’re writing an article, marketing collateral or a sales letter, stories will make your copy come alive like nothing else will. And when you can engage your reader, you’re one step closer to winning him over. Note that for simplicity’s sake I’m using the terms stories, anecdotes, and narratives interchangeably–and loosely. However you parse them, they all paint word pictures that make a bull’s eye for our emotional right brains. Countless neurological studies confirm that people process information better when it’s presented in story form. When not connected by narrative, facts, statistics and logic have to go through too many filters before they trigger a visceral response.

You don’t need to have the talent of a Hemingway to use story forms in business communication. Consider the experience of Robert McKee, a Hollywood screenwriting guru who has recently started attracting executives, entrepreneurs and office workers to his wildly popular $600 Story Seminars, according to Dan Pink’s fascinating new book, “A Whole New Mind.” Here’s Pink quoting McKee: “Although businesspeople are often suspicious of stories…the fact is that statistics are used to tell lies and damned lies, while accounting reports are often BS in a ball gown. . . If a businessperson understands that his or her own mind naturally wants to frame experience in a story, the key to moving the audience is not to resist this impulse but to embrace it.”

I’ll concede that I don’t always practice what I preach. But I’ve found that thinking in terms of story right from the get-go helps me discover what I want to say much more easily than if I were relying solely on expository techniques. Of course, stories require more research. Yet putting in a little more time on the front end can pay dividends at the keyboard.

That said, here are some research tips to help you discover and create stories that will help influence your readers:

1) When interviewing a source, ask them to recall the funniest or most surprising experience they’ve had with the subject at hand. It’s helpful to give interviewees the questions in advance so that they’ve had time to recall anecdotes. Remember to ask for elaboration so that your writing will be full of concrete details. Or you can create your own anecdote by having an interaction with the subject and writing about it, or watching the interviewee relate with his or her employees or public and then retelling it in your copy. And don’t overlook photos as a memory trigger: Ask questions about pictures displayed in the office or ask to see a photo album or scrapbook. There’s a story behind every picture, as you’re sure to find out.

2) Befriend your company’s librarian, archivist or unofficial historian. Sometimes the only thing it takes to unleash the floodgates of memory is a little curiosity on your part. You could end up with enough anecdotes to last you through several writing projects.

3) If you don’t have company testimonials, seek them out. Use short versions for your Web site and brochures and longer ones involving scene-setting details–exactly how a product or service helped your customer–for annual reports and sell sheets. If you already have a file of testimonials, re-interview these customers/clients–expressing your continued gratitude, of course–and try to elicit some detailed stories.

Suzanne is a public relations consultant, award-winning copywriter and e-zine publisher based in Raleigh, N.C. She can be reached at suzanne@suzannewood.com or by phone at 919-789-8446.

Many novice writers, when asked about what they want to write about, respond with the name of a broad topic, such as “relationships” or “computers.” At the same time, these writers overlook an important question, “Well, what ABOUT relationships” and “What ABOUT computers?”

In other words, what main point do you want to make about some aspects of a broad subject to a specific audience?

For example, writing a letter to a friend is likely to use different language and include news that will appeal to that audience. On the other hand, writing a letter to a relative is going to be quite different and not likely use exactly the same language or news that might be presented to a friend.

So before producing that article or book, all writers need to decide who their audience and tailor their material to it, just like a letter-writer would to his or her audience. In other words, tailor the material to a given audience.

For example, the novice writer’s main point might be “Lap computers are becoming obsolete” for an audience of college students. And in the other broad subject of relationships, the novice writer might state that “Having an older brother or sister can be an advantage.” In this case, the specific audience might be young parents. Also, the best part is that both points are related to their respective broad subjects and speak directly to their intended audiences. Another benefit is that the novice writer can visualize each audience and tailor his or her statements to it.

As a result, that writer’s work will be well-focused, with interesting content, and attract his or her given audience — including an editor at some publishing house who just happens to be looking for such a topic!

Follow these suggestions and you will have a smoother road to a faster sale for your article or book.

Dorothy Zjawin’s website, http://www.profitable-pen.com, is open to ALL writers and features articles and a free forum.

Early cave woman wasn’t content with her cave man’s rendition of “home” — dark, blank walls that provided no ambience whatsoever. So, one day, when he grunted, she grunted back and soon there were linear drawings adorning their cave. These sketches were not exactly what she had in mind to brighten up their lives (animals and spears staring at her as she did her daily dirt floor tamping down), but they made her cave man happy. They gave him and his buddies the opportunity, whenever they got together, to retell of their great hunts and narrow escapes. Writing and story telling without an alphabet.

Boggles the Mind

How many stories, poems, articles and essays have been written since then using the alphabets of the world? My mind misfires to even try and imagine the number. Stories have been published in small, struggling-for-recognition publications, or sent out but returned as rejections, never to surface again. Poems have been written, carefully releasing emotions kept deep within the heart and soul, but never shown to anyone, as if the words were too close to that heart and soul to allow them to be completely released. And rant opinions have been penned, complaining that a company’s product failed to live up the its advertisment when two of its knobs fell off and the one that did remain wouldn’t turn. And then there are the countless essays and articles, researched and filed away in a cabinet, never to see the light of day again. How many pieces have been written throughout the course of history? It falls into the category of questions like, “How many tears have been shed or how many smiles have been formed. There’s no way of knowing.

A WORTHWHILE SKILL

Many, many written pieces, however, HAVE been accounted for and kept track of, much to the delight of readers everywhere. Reading is a joy and a pleasurable addiction for a great number of people. I admire these people — those who can enthusiastically call themselves “readers”, those who can curl up in a chair or stretch out on a sofa and become so engrossed in a piece of writing that they don’t emerge from their reading until several chapters later or the short story’s ending. I admire them because I’m not a reader. I’ve always disliked the task and never acquired the skill. I do read though…anything and everything…in bits and pieces…kind of like a TV channel-surfer clicking from one program to the next. Short attention span? Sometimes. Speed reader? Hardly. I’m simply not a reader. That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed reading at times. I have. It just doesn’t come naturally to me.

KICKING IT UP A NOTCH

Reading well is a skill. Reading well, comprehending what was read and being able to dissect it in order to find its strengths and weaknesses is an art. Reading well and being able to connect with the essence of a piece and then express that feeling and connection to its writer is an art. This art comes naturally to some, but has to be learned by others. I’m in that “others” grouping.

I’ve recently learned that a reader is incomplete until they’ve at least tried their hand at writing and a writer is incomplete if they’re not reading.

But, I’m not sure yet if I’m up to tackling the “Map of the World” by Jane Hamilton or the “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card (both books have been on a desk, patiently waiting for my attention). And I’m not sure if I can return and attempt finishing “The Idiot” by Fyodor Dostoeyevsky yet. I’ve begun reading that book so many times and left it mid-read, that I’m certain the main character, Myshkin, feels as if he’s been experiencing the same phenomenom as Bill Murray in “Ground Hog Day”. Poor guy! Maybe someday.

In the meantime, though, perhaps those of us who shy away from reading will continually push the word, line and page limits until one day we can retell some of the great stories we’ve visited. Or recite a few lines from some of the poems we happen to have discovered. It’s more than likely going to be worth the effort. Besides, we have to make that cave woman proud!

Regenia G. Butcher is an author on a site for Creative Writing (http://www.Writing.Com/). She is also a crafter and is currently working on a “quirky” word reference book. She usually not only sees the glass half full, but rejoices that there IS a glass. You can visit her portfolio at http://www.sensity.writing.com.

Writers write about their own life experience, even when they’re writing a multi-volume three-generational family saga about slimy green toads which live on the planet Zog in a galaxy far, far away. A famous writer once said that anyone who’s survived childhood has enough creative material to keep writing for a hundred years.

You can use this material overtly: you can write articles for newspapers and magazines, and non-fiction books about your interests. You can write about marriage when you get married, children when you have them, and divorce when you get divorced.

You can also use your life-experience covertly. You can’t avoid using your life in your writing. Writers who write fiction are still writing from their own experience. If a young female writer writes from the point of view of an embittered homosexual male war veteran, she’s still writing from her own experience, because mentally and emotionally, as well as physically, we’re all people. We’re all human, and we’re all the same.

There’s a very funny scene in the movie As Good As It Gets when Jack Nicholson, who plays an obsessive compulsive romance writer, visits his publisher and is cornered by an ingenuous secretary. She asks him how he writes his women characters so well, and, while touching her hand to her chest and forehead asks: “How do you know what’s happening in here?” It’s hilarious. If you haven’t seen the movie, rent it and watch it. The point being, that even Nicholson’s character in the movie, who’s about as far from being a romantic as you can get — on the surface — writes sweet romances which touch his readers deeply and affect their lives.

You can write anything, because you’ve got it all in you.

=> How to use your life in your writing

Using your life in your writing means learning to use your imagination. Like Alice, in Alice In Wonderland, you learn to develop the ability to drop down the rabbit hole of your mind to access the Wonderland of your imagination at will.

You can train yourself to do this. You start by conducting an archaeological dig on your life, to access your memory of past events, people and places. You usually won’t use these memories as-is in your work, but because your memories inform your imagination and creativity, digging around in your memories enhances your imagination.

Therefore, there are two major techniques you need to learn to use your life in your writing. The first is to stir your memories, and the next is to access your imagination at will.

==> Your memories: write a timeline of your life

Julia Cameron calls your life story your Narrative Timeline. Simply make a list of the big events of your life, starting with your birth, going to school, major childhood events and illnesses, getting your first job, and so on.

You don’t need to make a big production out of this. Write the list — it won’t take you longer than ten minutes.

Each day, choose an item from the list, and write about it. This is not writing for publication. Think of it as archaeology, or turning over the compost of your past. Your writing can be totally stream-of-consciousness in style, because no one will be reading it except you, and then only if you want to. If you wish, you can even delete the computer file or destroy the paper when you’ve finished writing. The process is only intended to stir your memories.

If you have painful events in your past, as most of us do, ignore those. You don’t need reminding about the painful events. Those will color your work whether or not you intend them to.

==> Access your creativity at will: drop down the rabbit hole of your imagination

All creative people develop the skill of entering the landscape of their imagination. If you’ve ever been hypnotized, it’s a similar experience, and it’s very simple to do. The process is just like a daydream. You can even do it with your eyes open.

Imagine that you’re walking down a staircase, or descending in an elevator. When the elevator stops, you open a door into a landscape — a beautiful garden, or a mountain meadow. Start wandering through this landscape. Make it real: smell the flowers, feel the wind, listen to the waterfall, or to the sounds of chirping birds.

Or, imagine that you’re floating, on a magic carpet, or on a cloud, or in hot-air balloon. Imagine that you’re drifting over landscapes. When the carpet lands, you can wander through the landscapes of your imagination.

You can stay in your imaginary landscape as long as you like. Even two minutes will refresh you, and will feed your writing. This creative technique is a stress-reliever par excellence too.

There you have it: two techniques to help you to write from your life — consciously. Enjoy them, they’re great fun.

Stuck in your writing career? Get a coach! Angela Booth coaches writers in copywriting (writing for business), nonfiction, and fiction. A veteran writer, published by major publishers worldwide, Angela is also an experienced writing teacher, who knows how to inspire and motivate. You CAN make a success of your writing career. Free daily info for writers at her blog: http://copywriter.typepad.com/ Start your writing coaching today by contacting Angela at her site http://angelabooth.com/ Angela offers personal one-on-one e-courses and mentoring for all forms of writing. Ask for a low-cost initial phone or email consultation.

From our deconstruction of hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters….

The Hero’s Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the Hollywood movies we have deconstructed are based on this template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.

The Hero’s Journey:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Interpreted metaphorically, laterally and symbolically, allows an infinite number of varied stories to be created.

and more…

Sample Movie Deconstructed: Ghostbusters (1984)

FADE IN: the antagonism: the ghosts in the library.

Intro Hero; his character and Ordinary World: Peter favoring the blonde during psychic testing; electric shocks.

Introduce Ally: Ray excited about the psychic activity in the library.

Crossing into the First Threshold: going to the library.

Meeting Allies: Spengler in the library.

Threshold Guardian: the Director greets them..

Strange Creatures of the First Threshold: “it had arms…”

Characteristics of this World: downstairs; the weird book stacking; the ectoplasmic residue etc…

Inner Cave: the ghost, “get her…”

Foreshadow of the adventure: “we have a chance actually catching a ghost…”

Forced off the First Threshold: their grant is terminated.

Foreboding: this is bad; no chance of getting into MIT etc.

Physical Separation: they’ll start their own business.

Journey to the World of the Transformation: they re-mortgage Ray’s house. Cynicism: Ray and Spengler unsure.

Entering the World of the Transformation: taking the office.

Foreshadow of the Antagonism: the gargoyle.

Meeting the Romantic Challenge: Dana.

Meeting the Idiot: Louis.

Idiot’s challenge: Louis hitting on Dana.

Developing the Antagonism: the eggs pop out; Dana opens the fridge.

The World of the Transformation: the sign; the new car; the secretary etc.

Developing the characters; Ray and Spengler: “I collect spores, moulds and fungus.”

Hero and his Romantic Challenge: Dana walks in and meets Peter.

Guided toward the Road of Trials /`Transformation: Dana tells the boys of her experience; they make plans.

Hero and Romantic Challenge Polarization: Peter in Dana’s apartment; “he’s more like a game show host.”

Time Pressure: “this magnificent feast is the last of petty cash.

Journey to the Transformation: journey to the hotel:

Threshold Guardian: the hotel manager.

Creatures in the World of the Transformation: the old man; guest.

Warnings: they haven’t tested this equipment.

Fish out of water; entering clumsily; they fire the ray guns accidentally.

Transformation / Trial 1: (in the hotel) Ray attacks the blob; Peter gets slimed; they drop the chandelier.

Magical Gift: don’t cross the beams.

Completing Transformation 1: catching the blob.

Transformation / Trial 2: the manager won’t pay the bill.

Transformation / Trial 3: the news reports; lots of activity; Larry King sequence; they become Ghostbusters.

Shape Shifter: Winston applies for a job.

Seizing the Sword: Peter gets a date with Dana.

Foreshadow of the Magic Flight: Winston is taught about the containment unit.

Foreshadow of the Near Death Experience: the secretary threatens to quit.

Near Death Experience: Walter Peck of the EPA threatens to shut them down.

Foreshadow of the Atonement: Spengler is worried; the Twinkie sequence; Peter tells the others that the EPA visited.

Atonement with the Father: the statues crack; the creatures kidnap Dana and Louis.

Apotheosis: Peter finds Dana possessed; Spengler et al find the Key Master; Zuul is coming.

Foreshadow of the Ultimate Boon: Ray becomes suspicious about Dana’s apartment building; discussing Revelation; Judgement Day.

Refusal: do not turn down the containment unit.

Magic Flight: the contained creatures escape and make havoc in the city.

Ultimate Boon: Dana’s building is the focal point of the return.

Developing the Antagonism: the Key Master meets the Gate Keeper.

Rescue from Without: the mayor gets the Ghostbusters out of jail; convincing the mayor.

Crossing the Return Threshold: given a police escort to Dana’s building; standing ovation etc.

Master of the Two Worlds / Final Conflict: defeating Zuul and the Marshmallow Man [see FINAL CONFLICT].

Learn more…

The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and other story structure templates can be found at http://www.clickok.co.uk/

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

Kal Bishop

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

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. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. 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 at http://www.clickok.co.uk/

The sources of inspiration are all around us, in the headlines of the daily newspaper, in conversations, and listening to what questions people are asking. But how do you find those little inspirations that cause the flood gates of creativity to open wide?

I asked this same question to my favorite writer’s forum.
So, how does a writer decide what they are going to write about? I needed to know what inspired them to write, and how they chose the topic.

Were my sources of inspiration any different from another’s inspiration?

I discovered that the key is to be true to your heart and write about what interests you, discover your passion and you will you be able to write and succeed. Whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction those sources can vary, so let’s break it down and examine some common methods for finding inspiration.

Ideas for that fiction you want to write.

For some writers the inspiration for that story can come from stimulating the creative thought processes, stirring the creative juices in a number of different ways. Here are a couple of methods, I like to use the latter one; events and dreams from my life, but I have tried the first method as well.

Examine a picture or photo

This used to be an old exercise that we used in school. Look at a picture and form a story about the scene that you see. For example, let’s say the picture is of a log cabin in the woods surrounded by a thick forest. Immediately you begin to ask yourself questions, like, “who’s house is it?”, “why is it in the woods?”
Just a couple of questions and you are off and running, or typing rather.

Use events from your life, or dreams, in a story.

I use dreams, my own, as well as other people’s, and life moments and events, twists of fate that you could never imagine, are the best because they are original. You can go along and make plans in your life but it never turns out exactly the way you plan it; there are events that take place that change the course of your path ever so slightly, or quite dramatically. If you can’t think of any of your own twists, try reading a story in the newspaper or magazine, these are two great resources for tragedies and twists that you can use for your story.

In one of my own stories I used a case of synchronicity that actually happened, to add to the events in the story. There was the time when I needed a new desk for my office badly, and in addition I was thinking about moving out of my apartment when the lease expired; well, a month later when I was able to begin looking for a new home I came across the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood, and in the spare room there was an old wooden desk that was offered to me if I agreed to rent the house.

Seeking the Non-Fiction article Idea:

Read a headline; just read, read, and read.

Just the other day the newspaper was saying that there is going to be a jump in prices for coffee in the New Year. This news springs to mind many questions; How to fit the extra cost of coffee into my budget; Time to go cold-turkey?

Maybe they will come out with a “coffee-patch” to gently wean us from the stuff. Maybe I should switch to Coca Cola? See where I am going here? All these questions get the mind stirring, cranking out ideas. Let’s use the coffee idea again, how could this affect the coffee industry if consumers started cutting back on their favorite java? You decide that this is a great idea and are going to run with it. You contact some of the big coffee chains like Star Buck’s, Tim Horton’s, and Second Cup, and talk to the managers and buyers to see how the price increase is going to affect their business, how is it going to affect the consumer, etc. You Google and find out that there is actually a New York Coffee Exchange, and that there are two markets for coffee – the cash market, and the futures market, that statistics from 1999 in the United States show that coffee drinkers spend on average $164.71 per year on coffee, and that in 2000, 54% of the adult population of the United States drinks coffee daily, and in addition, another 24% of the population drinks coffee occasionally. You can probably write a very interesting article about something as “not so simple” as coffee. What average person knows this much about the cup of coffee that they have come to depend on every day? I certainly didn’t.

Listen to what other people are asking; perhaps the answer they are looking for can be the topic of your next article.

Here is where those on-line forums can help you out; if someone can’t find the answer to a question, perhaps finding the answer is the article that you are looking for? Or, turn it around; maybe you have a question that you can’t seem to find the answer to – research it and write an article so that it assists others who may be asking the same question.

What are your interests? Cats, dogs, fish? Maybe you are passionate for muffins but you are sensitive to wheat, or you know someone who is sensitive to wheat. What are the alternatives to wheat? Who supplies these products?

Maybe your cat has a problem with hairballs and you have tried all the remedies on the store shelf, but she is still coughing up hairballs all over your new carpet, and then you try a home remedy that works – ta da! A new article! Maybe two new articles if you can find a great new carpet cleaner that removes those pet stains in your new carpet!

My mom keeps asking me how long tropical fish live. She has a Gourami that has lived for at least 2 years now and she is curious about the life span of her favorite fish but can’t seem to find the answer in any book she has purchased. Is someone asking you for an answer that they can’t find anywhere?

Ideas for articles and stories are everywhere! Life is full of problems and adventures, suspense and romance, it is all around us. Probably the most important advice that I give you is to just be AWARE; be alert to what is going on around you and in you, and write from the heart.

Cindy DeJager is a free-lance writer, she lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. For more articles email her at dejagerc@telus.net