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How to Write with Style

The indispensable characteristic of a good writer is a style marked by lucidity. -Ernest Hemingway-

How to Write with Style

Kurt Vonnegut (November 11, 1922–April 11, 2007) has given us some of the most timeless advice on the art and craft of writing.

Each profession, it would seem, has its own style of thought that must be mastered before a person feels good with it, you name it, they all have a style of thought related to the nature of their profession. It stands to reason that writing would have its own, too. and it does.

We don’t think about the human aspects of engagement.

In the last 30 years, mankind has produced more information than in the previous 5,000. At the same time, attention spans are down to 8 seconds and falling. We suffer from information overload like everyone else. The flow of information is only accelerating while are attention spans are struggling to stay focused on everything that happens every second of every day.

What a novice needs more than anything, then, is to plug into the brain of an experienced writer-to understand the assumptions she typically makes, the silent monologue that is occupying her head as she composes, the special effects she is trying to achieve . . . Without that guiding instinct, writing will remain all hit-or-miss-a frustrating repetition of trial and error, over and over again.

The Challenge with Writing with Style

The amateur writer is self-conscious, merely having the capacity of thinking what would please him. The result is scrambled thoughts and a predictable pattern of sentence length and variety of vocabulary. He has no capacity of thinking of the reader, or at least it doesn’t cross his mind. The veteran, on the other hand, puts the thoughts of the reader foremost, and in turn makes the writing engaging and clear. John Trimble demonstrated while he was writing the ability of an experienced writer. He came across as thoughtful, determined, and serious. His points were direct and clear. Even his vocabulary was slightly amusing and highly rhetorical. It was quite a different read the second time through, after I had read his five points of a good writer. But perhaps the most fascinating facet of his thesis was that the veteran puts the reader’s thoughts first rather than his own. It is quite comparable to the second Law of God: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This law doesn’t say, “And you will be rewarded in return.” It’s an act of service out of the heart. However, the effect is that you will be known as the man who follows God. Likewise, the writer who thinks the reader’s thoughts will be known as the experienced writer. The comparison is actually quite remarkable. Trimble’s thesis conveys a small part of God’s grand instructions.

The first chapter of Writing with Style struck me as a work of art. The author, John Trimble, actually was capable of demonstrating what the subject matter was about while he spoke about it. He captivated the reader’s attention using the examples of the amateur vs. the veteran. And he was able to decisively pinpoint the difference between the two. A storehouse of practical writing tips, written in a lively, conversational style. Readers lean to develop a “writer's sense” : the book demonstrates that writing is really applied psychology since it is essentially the art of creating desired effects. Provides an explanation of what effects are desirable and how to create them. An exceptional book that works successfully on several levels simultaneously. Provides new insight into: how to generate interesting ideas and get them down on paper; how to write a critical analysis; how to write a crisp opener; how to invigorate a banal style; how to punctuate with confidence; how to handle various conventions, and much more. For anyone who needs a reference guide on writing.

There are plenty of books on writing out there, mostly by writers you have never heard of and probably never will. Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is an exception. I had read many rave reviews about this book, so I went and got myself the audio book version for the long rides on my latest trip (but ended up listening to it everywhere I went and finished it in the first couple of days).

The verdict? Extraordinary. One of the best books about writing I’ve ever come across. 5 out of 5 stars!

Nevertheless, what started off as a short post about the book has turned into the full-blown thesis below, so I apologize in advance. The lengthy middle section on Part II though is useful for those who want an idea of what King’s views are in relation to the craft of writing.

Overview

The book is not a mechanical guide on how to be a better writer from a technical standpoint, though in the middle section King does discuss the fundamentals of the craft. Stylistically, it is similar to Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, in that it is a very personal book that discusses writing through the author’s personal stories, experiences and anecdotes, all told with good grace and humor. You don’t just learn about writing techniques in On Writing – you also get to learn a great deal about Stephen King, his family, the struggles he has endured, both pre-fame and post-fame, and what makes him tick as a popular horror novelist that has sold hundreds of millions of books worldwide.

There are essentially 3 parts to this book. Part I is all about King’s life, and is autobiographical in a sense. Part II is all about the craft of writing from King’s personal perspective. Part III talks about King’s life after his tragic car accident that almost ended his life and writing career. All 3 parts are equally instructive and compelling.

Parts I & III– All About Stephen King

The book begins like an autobiography on Stephen King, the writer. It starts off from his childhood and goes all the way to that first big success and then on to superstardom. It’s filled with lots of little humorous tales about the outrageous things he got up to. After all, it is a memoir.

At first, I was concerned – where was he leading with this? Is the book called On Writing or On Stephen King? I got the book with the hope of learning more about how to be a better writer, not to learn everything about the author! That being said, King does tell his story with a lot of skill, keeping it interesting, intriguing, funny and inspiring.

Then you start to realize that it isn’t just a self-indulgent story of King’s life. There is a common theme running through his life, and that theme is writing. He loves to write and he writes for the love of writing. Like most other successful writers, King went through years and years of rejections (starting when he was just a kid). He held ordinary jobs because he had to support himself and his family. He struggled.

But he never stopped writing and honing his craft, largely thanks to the encouragement of his wife Tabitha, who happens to also be his most loyal supporter.

King tells one of the most inspirational and uplifting stories I’ve ever heard – how his breakthrough novel Carrie earned him an initial $2,500 for the hardcover rights (not much even for those times), and then how he scored a life-changing $400,000 for the paperback rights (split equally with hardcover publisher) when the most he expected was $60,000 (half of which would be his). Not bad for a guy who would have earned $30,000 over 4 years as a teacher.

However, success manifested itself in strange ways, and the next section dealt with King’s fall into alcoholism and drug abuse. Amazingly, some of his most famous novels were written during the darkest phase of his life.

Anyway, don’t be put off by the long start – King does eventually get to the craft of writing in Part II. However, this first part is also very instructive. If nothing, you learn that the path of a writer is a long, difficult, and eternal road.

Part III is significantly shorter. It tells of King’s horrific car accident at the hands of a loony driver – one that not only nearly ended his writing career but just about killed him. I thought King showed a lot of restraint in this section – he doesn’t hurl abuse at the driver who turned his life upside down and made even simple tasks such as sitting incredibly painful for him. He merely describes what happened like a good narrator (including the agonizing pain he endured) and leaves it at that.

Part II – The Craft of Writing

The second part is what most people buy the book for – King’s guide to the craft of writing. It contains a lot of the same advice you might find in other writing books, but King adds his own personal touch and insight from his years of experience.

Here’s a summary of some of the most salient points I got out of this section and what I thought of them. Please note that I cannot guarantee that it is an accurate or complete reflection what is actually in the book because they are merely from scribbles I took down when listening to the audio book. Of course, you will get much much more out of it by reading (or listening) to the book, which provides a lot of in-depth discussion and useful examples. This is really just a personal reminder of things I need to look out for in my own writing and a critique of King’s advice.

The Elements of Style

First of all, get yourself a copy of Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style. King raves about this book and mentions it more than a couple of times. In his view, all writers should read this short but essential book.

I need to get myself a copy.

Characters

King’s writing style is based on characters. In his view, stories and characters are not really created, but are waiting to be uncovered like archaeological artifacts. He usually starts his novels with just a premise and goes from there, meaning his characters and plot tend to form over the course of the novel rather than get planned out from the beginning.

It may be a viable method but I find such an approach to likely lead to dead ends (and I feel King might have the same problem with some of his horror novels, which have a tendency to crash to a crappy finish with unsatisfactory solutions).

Good Writing

When King talks about good writing, he is not talking about writing masterpieces or literary award winners. He’s simply talking about writing that is above competent and readable, and perhaps, publishable. In his view, there are two key criteria to ‘good writing’: (1) a good grasp of the fundamentals; and (2) having the right instruments. These criteria will not make good writers great or bad writers competent, but it can make good writers out of merely competent writers.

So what are these fundamentals and tools? See below. I should say in advance that these are things you would expect to find in most other books on writing and shouldn’t come as a big surprise.

Adverbs

King hates adverbs (you know, words that mostly end in ‘-ly’). Loathes them. Not that they shouldn’t be used at all, but they should only be used when strictly necessary. On the same point, King brings up the issue of using adverbs for dialogue attribution – for instance, ‘she said slowly’. Again, the rule is to use it only when necessary. If the dialogue itself already tells the way in which it is expressed, then there is no need for the adverb. King’s preference is to just use ‘said’. However, that being said, he also admits to using adverbs more often than he should.

Personally, I admit I have a tendency to resort to adverbs. Because it’s easy. It tempts you to use it so you don’t have to think of a better word or come up with better dialogue (in the case of dialogue attribution). However, cutting out adverbs is something I’ve reserved for the second draft.

Passive Voice

Another thing King frowns upon is using passive voice. For example, instead of ‘he rode the horse’, using ‘the horse was ridden by the man’. King attributes the use of passive voice to fear. People that usually write for business purposes (like me) have a tendency to overuse passive voice. I think I recall reading somewhere that it comes across as more professional and more objective. Anyway, it’s another thing I need to cut out come second draft time, but I think I’ve already started to avoid it instinctively as I’ve progressed with my novel.

Grammar

It’s obvious, but grammar is crucial for good writing. It’s something writers need to get right. As simple as that. There are some small exceptions which a lot of writers employ, such as the short fragments typically found in writing these days (see previous sentence), but for the most part, it’s advisable to stick to correct grammar.

Don’t apply incorrect grammar and punctuation on purpose, even when you know it’s wrong, just to be different and creative and stylish. That is, of course, unless you are a famous writer already that people consider to be genius so you can do whatever you want (eg Cormac McCarthy).

Cut Useless Words

King believes most writers, especially inexperienced writers, have a tendency to put in too many useless words. Good writing involves cutting them out and getting to the point.

This is something I’ve struggled with all my life, even with high school and university assignments. I just can’t help myself, and I think it shows, even from this post! Oh well, better keep moving…

Vocabulary

King has a simple tip with vocabulary – use the most appropriate word, and usually, that is the first word that comes to mind. The only way to improve your vocabulary is to read more. When writing, don’t stop so you can think of a better word, and don’t put in words that you don’t really know. If you don’t know it then there is a good chance that other readers won’t know either. The aim is to allow readers to read smoothly, and making them wonder what a word means (or having to check up what it means) runs against that objective.

I’ll be the first to admit that my vocabulary is not all that crash hot. It stems from a lack of reading good books throughout my childhood and adolescence. Consequently, I do find myself struggling to find the right word at times, even if it’s for the first word that comes to mind. As King says, however, the only way to improve is to read more!

Plot

For King, the 3 elements to a story are narration, description and dialogue – meaning plot is not one of them. As noted above, King’s stories usually start off with not much more than a premise and the characters, which he allows to let loose to see where they take him.

I still have a bit of trouble fully appreciating that approach, but it’s obviously one that works for him. I do allow my characters to roam free a little, but it’s usually within the confines of a single scene as opposed to the entire story.

Descriptions

Descriptions make the reader a sensory participant in the story. The key is to visualize what you want the reader to experience. However, there is a fine line when it comes to descriptions, as there is a danger of describing too much, which slows down the pace, kills the imagination and bores the reader. I have to say I have sometimes found this to be the case with some of King’s writings.

King’s advice is to use your descriptions but not do too much – simply say what you see and get on with the story. It is important to pick the right details that stand for everything else. Particularly useful is the advice to avoid too much description on individual attributes of characters. There is no need to go into depth on the precise height, weight and hair and eye colour of every character you come across. It’s boring. King advises writers to put down the first visualized details that come into your mind – the priority is to keep the ball rolling.

Dialogue

Dialogue is difficult to get right, and King’s advice is to let the dialogue be honest to the characters and to allow each speaker to speak honestly.

I’m also struggling with dialogue for my characters (I’m struggling with a lot of things). It’s easy to make the mistake of making every piece of dialogue look like it comes from the same character. I’m really going to have to put in a lot of work on dialogue in my second draft to allow the characters to distinguish themselves and stand out from each other.

Showing and Telling

Another tenet of good writing is to show, not tell. This was the subject of one of my earlier posts on writing. Of course, it’s not always possible to do that, but King believes ‘show’ should always be preferred to ‘tell’ whenever possible.

Personally, I’m glad to say I am starting to get the hang of this, but sometimes I wonder whether it is better to just tell it using a simple sentence rather than showing it through pages of conversation and action?

Paragraphs

King calls paragraphs the beat in your head when you read, the fragments in the prose. It’s easy to overlook it, but how you structure the length of your paragraphs can be very important. King’s recommendation is to learn the beat and let nature take its course.

It’s not something I ever gave much thought to, so I found this particular part rather instructive.

Back Stories, Info Dumps and Flashbacks

King says back stories and info dumps should be kept in the back of the mind. Also, try and avoid flashbacks wherever possible. Of course, there are exceptions – there are plenty of great books with lots of flashbacks and back stories. But the key is questioning whether it is really necessary and whether there are other more effective ways of getting the information across. King notes that JK Rowling is particularly good at the info dump and back story retelling in the Harry Potter books, so take a look at them if you want to see how it is done well.

My own novel has its fair share of flashbacks, but I’ve tried my best to control the back stories and info dumps. It’s probably something best to come back to once the first draft has been completed.

Close the Door

King believes it is very important for writers to have their own private space when writing, a place with no distractions. He recommends a regular place to write, and to close the door when writing. It shuts out the rest of the world and the distractions, and lets people know you are working and you are serious.

I don’t always close the door when I write, but I admit I write best when I am totally focused and not being distracted by what’s outside the window or in the next room.

Reading and Writing

Stephen King says that reading and writing is the only way to improve as a writer. Writing is a craft that is best learned through doing. King puts a great deal of emphasis on reading. Writers need to read in order to improve, and it’s not only through reading good literature – you can learn just as much from reading a good book (teaching you what to do) as a bad book (teaching you what NOT to do).

What to do after the First Draft

King’s advice is to complete that first draft within 3 months. It’s probably not a realistic deadline for those that have day jobs and other unavoidable things that consume their time.

Anyway, after completion of the first draft, however long it might take, King advises you to let go of it for 6 weeks before going back to it so you would have forgotten it. Reading your own work with a pair of fresh eyes is extremely important. Start writing something else in the meantime. This I agree with, but 6 weeks can be a painfully long wait! I’ve read elsewhere that a week or two might be sufficient, but I suppose it’s up to the individual.

When revising the first draft, King suggests you concentrate on both big things such as inconsistencies, plot holes and character motivation and development problems, as well as small things, such as misspellings. Make notes about where problems are, mark up the manuscript and check your notes when revising. Get rid of adverbs and add in clarifications where necessary. Ask yourself whether it is coherent, whether there are any recurring elements or themes, and what to do to make those things clear. You may need to add or delete scenes. The key is to make the story and characters resonate with readers.

Symbolism and Theme

For King, symbolism and themes in your novel are things that come in at the second draft stage. They should not be things you purposely go out and put into your story. Rather, you should focus on the story itself and when only explore symbolism and themes if they become apparent when reading the first draft.

King’s Rule for Second Drafts

King’s personal approach to second drafts of novels is to tighten the first draft by 10%. So if you have a first draft of a story that is 100,000 words, try and tighten it to 90,000 words for the second draft.

In my opinion it’s just his personal approach and a loose guide at best because everyone will have their own preference. King does 2 drafts and a polish, whereas some writers need 4 or 5 drafts and dramatic changes every time. Besides, not everyone can churn out first drafts that are good enough to be published just after one additional draft and a polish.

What to do after the Second Draft

King does not show anyone his work until he has completed the second draft. This I wholeheartedly agree with, because (especially for writing novices) it can be daunting to ask others to read your work. King shows his completed second drafts to 4 or 5 people. Some say that readers should not be your friends, or else you won’t get honest feedback. King disagrees – he says you should be smart enough to gauge the reactions, even if they are your friends.

I must say I agree. It is scary enough showing your work to your friends, let alone people you don’t know. And if a friend tells me it’s ‘not bad’, I’ll have a pretty good idea that they thought it sucked.

Agents and Publishers

On agents and publishers, King says that it is not impossible to get an agent/publisher with an unsolicited manuscript these days, and there are ways to get into the industry. He recommends building a portfolio, submit to magazines relating to your genre and to try and get publishing credits to your name. He encourages writers to research the market – look through Writer’s Market to find an agent that might be interested in your type of book. He says that it is important to go into it looking like a professional, in that you need to make sure your manuscript and query letter are done right. As he says, you cannot make agents/publishers like your manuscript, but you can make it easier for them to like your story.

Writing Courses

King generally does not find writing courses to be very helpful on the whole as the creative flow tends to get stopped. In fact, he’s rather critical of them, despite understanding how they may appeal to aspiring writers.
Again, I find this to be a generalization and not much more than a subjective view. There are many different types of writing courses and writers – some people might need a course to get them started or give them more confidence. I suppose what he is trying to say is not to rely on them too much or expect them to change your life. That I agree with.

Writing For the Right Reasons

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, King tells you to write for the right reasons – for the joy and rush and excitement of writing – not for the money, not for success or fame, not to impress anyone. Can’t disagree with that. Does impressing yourself count?

Concluding Thoughts

Before I read On Writing, I considered myself a slight to moderate King fan. For me, most of what I knew about the author came from the horror movies and mini-series adapted from his novels. There are too many to count. The ones that have been stamped deepest into my memory are It (thanks to which I am still not a fan of clowns), The Stand, Pet Cemetery, Sleepwalkers, Misery, Carrie and The Shining, but there are at least a dozen more.

I had only read one of his full length novels – The Dark Half – which I found to be okay. A bit long and a bit slow. But I did read it when I was much younger and had a shorter attention span, and the book was probably beyond my comprehension level at that age.

On the other hand, I had read some collections of King’s short stories and novellas. I found Nightmares and Dreamscapes to be reasonable, littered with some good and some bad stories. However, my favourite King book has to be his non-horror work, Different Seasons, which includes two novellas that were made (pretty faithfully) into two of my favourite movies of all time, Stand By Me (adapted from The Body) and The Shawshank Redemption (adapted from Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption). I found both novellas (and films) to be incredibly powerful and moving, and was amazed at what a terrific storyteller Stephen King can be, and it doesn’t even have to involve anything supernatural.

As a popular novelist, King has obviously had his critics throughout the years, but there is no denying that he can write. Maybe not awe-inspiring literature, but he definitely has a firm grasp of the fundamentals of writing, and he can certainly tell a good story. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is an instructive and insightful book, one that is filled with useful information for the aspiring writer and immensely enjoyable to read (or in my case, listen to). I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about the craft of writing or just wants a good read.

Writing Tips and Advice

Writing Tips and Advice

How to Create an E-Book using PDF Software

The concept of the e-reader dates back to Bob Brown’s 1930 book titled The Readies, however, digitized books didn’t become a reality until the 1971 launch of Project Gutenberg, which introduced the first e-book, a digitized copy of the Declaration of Independence. Since then, e-books have managed to capture a nice-sized share of the publishing market, and the e-book has become quite popular with businesses. Used for product manuals and instruction manuals, e-books help cut costs associated with printing physical books. Marketing departments have also discovered that e-books are a great form of content marketing, using the e-book format to deliver:

• Case studies
• White papers
• Reports
• Anthologies

These marketing tools enable companies to collect leads, create shareable content and strengthen their search engine optimization efforts.
So if you want to create an e-book, where do you begin? Let’s take a look.

Using PDF software to create an e-book!
A great e-book starts with an idea, a story to tell. You also need the right tool to translate that idea to a consumable product. Some people opt for standard word processing software but that has a number of limitations.
Others may opt for software proprietary to a specific e-reader but that limits the audience.
The best choice is to use your PDF software so that you can create a rich, well-formatted document that anyone can read. Here’s how you do just that:

• Choose your topic. Businesses get the most traction out of e-books that help their customers solve a problem.
• A list of best practices, a collection of statistics or even examples of how to overcome common issues all make for great e-book content.
• Outline your content.
• This is an important step because it helps you get your thoughts organized and plan for what the layout of your book is going to look like.
• Write the text.

Using your outline as a guide, open your PDF software and begin writing. Concentrate on the content instead of worrying about images or graphics. You can always make a note using the comment tool in your application to designate the location of these elements if they occur to you as you’re writing.
Edit. PDF software includes a full set of tools that allow for peer editing and collaboration. Since this document represents your business, make sure that others have a chance to look over everything to ensure there are no mistakes and that what you’re saying is consistent with your company’s message.
Choose fonts and colors. Now that your content is set, it’s time to start working with the aesthetics. Select fonts that are easy for people to read both in print and on smaller smartphone screens. When in doubt, serif faces are always a good idea. Also, make sure that any colors you choose for your fonts provide enough contrast to make reading easy.

Add graphics.

Now it’s time to start supplementing your written content with images, graphs, tables and any other visual elements you may want to include. Since you’re using PDF software, you can even embed video and audio into your e-book for a richer multimedia experience. Using the tools included with your software, you have the ability to resize, crop and edit images to work within your document. Adjust the layout. PDF software resembles desktop publishing software in the way it allows you to resize text areas, move elements on the page and manipulate the layout of your document. After adding graphics and changing the font, you’ll need to arrange everything in your document so that the content flows nicely for the reader.

Create a title page.

Your title page can be as simple as the name of the document or you can use visual elements to really make it stand out. Just make sure that you include any necessary information related to your business on the title page.
Make it accessible. In some industries, it’s a requirement that all documents are 508 compliant.

Review it.

Send a draft to colleagues to review before making it final.

Using Shared Review is a great mechanism to have a collaborative review.

Once you’ve completed your e-book, however, the work’s not quite done. While your PDF editor software will certainly help you put together a great looking document, getting it in front of its intended audience is entirely up to you.

That we'll cover in a new article for you later.

How To Master Conflict In Young Adult Fiction | Writers World

How To Master Conflict In Young Adult Fiction | Writers World

Shadowhunters

Shadow Hunters

Follow the adventures of Simon Lewis as he trains to become a Shadowhunter! Like The Bane Chronicles, the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy.

Series is written by Cassandra Clare in collaboration with fellow authors and friends, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, and Robin Wasserman, and will be released once a month as a series of ten e-novellas. Click "share" in the widget and copy the embed code to add the Cassandra Clare countdown widget to your blog and website and you'll always know when the next Shadowhunters book is coming out! Shadowhunters is an upcoming ABC Family television series based on The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. The show was officially picked up to series on March 30, 2015, by the network... When Clary Fray's mother has disappeared, Clary joins a band of Shadowhunters; demon killing hunters, and gets caught up in a plan to save the world...

Concert Fix

READ MORE

Beyond the darkness the guitar unraveled its static discord in a jumbled mix of screaming nothingness as bright red clouded in clear liquid before swirling back into the flow. In heartbeats the harmony congealed to rhythm a single chord reverberated in sparkling light shadows danced wet with the hour tracks on their arms swayed back and forth cigarette lighters demanding more, more, more... And still the music set into a trembling silence, mourning the fix away. Guitar in the dream is a symbol that expresses the emotional state of the person and his entourage. Depending on the atmosphere in which this instrument appears in the dream, you should pay attention to the various aspects of your life. For example, a dream in which you hold a guitar in your hands is a good sign. Even better omen is if you play the guitar in a dream. Both of these cases, tell us about the sudden contact with interesting company. And they might be complete strangers, accidentally met in a club or during a morning jog. Most importantly, in this company you will certainly find the right person that will cause a flash amazing feeling, love. It is obvious why you see a guitar with a broken string. This is an indication that the joy of love may give way to sad experiences for some time. It is possible that there will be the reason for tears. Especially important are such dreams for young people, who have no own family yet. The sounds of guitar music, heard by a girl, indicate that she will be meeting with insincere flatterer. This person will try to somehow hurt, but she can successfully resist. If a man sees a guitar, it means that he needs to pay special attention to own interests. Perhaps his lightheadedness can put him in a difficult position. So do not ignore such a dream, and perceive it as a friendly advice. According to Z. Freud, guitar is a symbol of the feminine. In human dreams there are constantly striking and sometimes vague events. From the standpoint of Freud, dreams are a reflection of reality at a deep subconscious level. There are many cases where dreams not only helped to care of trouble, but also helped to perform great discoveries, and create famous art works. In this regard, it is sufficient to talk about Mendeleev, Mozart, Pushkin, or Beethoven. Applying Freud's dream book, and exploring personal interpretation of dreams, we can better understand his own nature and avoid a lot of troubles. In the study of dreams, Freud drew special attention to the complex of free association with specific characters. He identified the key elements masked in subconscious, which closely involve the desire of most people. These elements are presented in the form of the human body, male and female. The design of guitar hull is very similar to the smooth and graceful lines of the female body. A man who has seen such dream has a harmonious relationship with his spouse. For a woman, the dream about guitar, tell that she can be confident in own sex female attractiveness, as well as the health of reproductive organs and feasibility of the union with her lover.

Drone On & On

You Can Now Buy Shotgun Shells Designed Specifically For Shooting Down Drones

You can also use them to shoot ducks, chickens, or turkeys if they also invade your privacy.

Snake River Shooting Products makes a shotgun shell specifically for shooting down camera drones…

Guy Shoots Down Neighbor’s Drone, Gets Sued, Loses

When a drone enters your property without permission, you can't just shoot it down without getting into trouble. If a drone enters your property and you don't want it there, you shouldn't shoot it down unless you want to pay for it…

Newest Book --- Shadow Master ---

Horrible beyond conception was the change which had taken place in the vast expanse of the universe, as if the sun had lost its lustrous glow, and the fiery heat could not penetrate through the cold darkness. Long ago, in a place where there was no darkness, there was what you call magic. A world that was once known, now had been forbidden; forgotten and all together lost forever from humanity; disappeared off the face of the earth.

Twitter’s Periscope Amasses 10 Million Users in Just Four Months

Twitter’s Periscope Amasses 10 Million Users in Just Four Months

http://t.co/GbASMHiu8B Twitter’s Periscope Amasses 10 Million Users in Just Four Months

— Terry Richardson (@Intoxcy8me) August 21, 2015

http://tinyurl.com/qyrqwr6

Twitter’s popular live video streaming app hit a major milestone this month when it surpassed 10 million active accounts and 2 million users on Android and iOS.

Free to self-publish an ebook.

It's gotta be good: The same rule applies to self-published e-books as it does to print books. You have to start with a good product if you have any hope of selling it.
Create an interesting cover:
When it comes to e-books, everything starts with the cover image. Creating an eye-catching, professional-looking cover that also looks good small (it has to stand out as a thumbnail image, since it's being sold online) is easier said than done, but it can really make a difference in terms of sales. Ideally, you should hire a graphic designer who has some experience creating book covers. From a production standpoint, an e-book cover is easier to create than a cover for a print book (you just need a JPEG with decent resolution), but it shouldn't look out of place among traditionally published e-books. I can't tell you how many bad self-published covers are out there.
Avoid any outfits that don't let you set the price:
This is one of the cardinal rules of self-publishing an e-book. You must be able to control the pricing of your e-book. If you want to sell it for 99 cents, then you should be able to sell it for 99 cents.
Marketing is all about creating awareness for your e-book:
I don't have any secret marketing tips to offer, but what I can say is that you can't sell a book if no one knows it exists. Most of book marketing is simply about creating awareness and you need to do that however you can, whether it's through social media or blogging or passing out fliers in the coffee shops.
E-book publishing options:
Here are the three big questions to bear in mind with e-book creation: first, what is the easiest and most cost-efficient way to produce an e-book? Second, where will it be distributed? And third, how much of a cut do you get? With those in mind, let's take a look at some of the more high-profile options available currently. I'm limiting it to these options because I want to keep this as simple as possible.
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
This is Amazon's e-book publishing platform, and if you think you're going to sell a lot of e-books, you should figure out a way to upload your file (book) directly to KDP and avoid using any sort of middleman or e-book "aggregator" that takes a cut of the profits. If you're a true DIY person, you can create your own cover (though if you're not a professional designer, it's better to hire a pro) and format your e-book using free software tools such as Calibre.
Smashwords
Smashwords, one of the e-book pioneers and largest distributors of self-published e-books, with more than 125,000 titles from over 40,000 authors, is very much a DIY operation. You bring your Word file and cover image, upload it into the company's "Meatgrinder" tool, and in a matter of minutes, you create your e-book in just about every format you'd want. You can then sell that e-book on Smashwords.com or have the company distribute it to most of the major e-book sellers, including Barnes & Noble's eBookstore, Apple's iBooks, Sony, Kobo, and Baker & Taylor's Blio and others. Smashwords also has deals in place for having its authors' e-books distributed to libraries.
BookBaby
BookBaby, the sibling of CD Baby (Brian Felsen is the president of both operations), has a slightly different business model from some of its competitors. Instead of taking a cut of your royalties, it makes you pay a fee of $99 upfront, then charges you a yearly fee of $19 per title you have in its system. It also offers print publishing services.
Barnes & Noble's PubIt
Barnes & Noble's PubIt self-publishing operation offers similar features to Amazon's KDP, but the two platforms do have their differences. Barnes & Noble has set the PubIt royalty rate for authors at 65 percent of the sale price for titles priced $2.99 and higher. The rate falls to 40 percent if you choose to go lower than $2.99 or higher than $9.99, with B&N setting 99 cents as the lowest allowable price and $199.99 as the highest. (For books priced under $2.99 or over $9.99, you actually earn more by distributing your book to B&N through Smashwords, which pays 60 percent list for all prices 99 cents and up.
So there you have the top places to get your book published. Good luck in you endeavors to get your book finished.

Shadow Master

My latest book will be finish in a week so check out its excerp now.

When age of darkness fell upon the world, and wonder went out of the minds of men; when all the cities decayed to smoky ruins and the tall towers became grim and ugly, in whose shadow none might dream of the sun or of the moon, only one walked amidst the walls of the fallen people.

Horrible beyond conception was the change which had taken place in the vast expanse of the universe, as if the sun had lost its lustrous glow, and the fiery heat could not penetrate through the cold darkness.

Long ago, in a place where there was no darkness, there was what you call magic. A world that was once known, now had been forbidden; forgotten and all together lost forever from humanity; disappeared off the face of the earth.

Two souls made of one, divided by time, and reunited within their dreams. Worlds stand between them now, but fate is their guiding light, one glance bound them, one touch empowered them. Now, they have no choice but to finish the war they started lifetimes before...or they will lose it all.

The chance of being alone in the coldness of the dark void seemed more of a bearable risk than a life with her spirit in certain and utter despair, and though she made her entrance into this dark, dismal world, it glowed with no fire, no warmth to be found. So the dream Whisper had vanished, but the aura of the dream tainted her senses, an odor, a taste, an invisible color staining the darkness of her world.

Life goes on.

Along with the sentence “This too shall pass,” the line above is simultaneously the most pessimistic formulation of the way the universe works, and the most optimistic one. On the one hand, “Life goes on” indicates that we are capable of picking ourselves up after any tragedy and continuing with some kind of meaningful and useful existence, no matter how damaged we might be from our experiences.

There’s always tomorrow for dreams to come true.

On the other hand.

“Life goes on” does seem in our blackest hours to imply one dreary, torturous day after another, with no surcease till death, and an uncaring response from a heartless creation.

Can't Fight This Feeling

Can't Fight This Feeling

Working on a new book and hopefully it will capture a large reading audience. Thanks to my many great fans!

A Single Moment can change everything in a story!

A Single Moment can change everything in a story!Share

Half Price Sale

for a limited time my book is half off with this coupon only at smashwords site Use the code SSW50 at checkout for 50% off during our site-wide promotion! (Offer good through July 31, 2015)

"Wait and thy soul shall speak."

There is, in the human soul, as in the depths of the ocean, a state of eternal calm. Around it the waves of unrest may surge and roar but there peace reigns. In that sanctuary the tides are born and, in their appointed time, swelling and rising, they carry the poor jetsam and flotsam of life before them.

All the World’s a Stage

The Seven Ages of Man ("All the world's a stage") William Shakespeare All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms; And then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slippered pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. Welcome. Set down your venerable burthen And let him feed...

GLORYHAMMER TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM

GLORYHAMMER TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM SPACE 1992: RISE OF THE CHAOS WIZARDS ON SEPTEMBER 25TH 2015! FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2015 TAGS: GLORYHAMMER > NAPALM RECORDS In the distant future of the year 1992…war has returned to the galaxy. One thousand years have passed since the brave hero Angus McFife defeated the evil sorcerer Zargothrax in the battle of Dunfermline, trapping the wizard in a frozen prison of liquid ice. But now, a cult of unholy chaos wizards are plotting to release their dark master from his ice-bound tomb and once again unleash the sorcerer Zargothrax upon the universe. The tragic destiny of the Galactic Empire of Fife now hangs in the balance once more… Mighty warriors of the Galaxy! Today GLORYHAMMER announced that their second album Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards will be unleashed upon the universe on September 25th 2015 AD (After Dundee) via Napalm Records! The album will feature 10 glorious battle anthems, which chronicle the legends of the Galactic Empire of Fife, the titles of which are as follows: 1. Infernus Ad Astra 2. Rise of the Chaos Wizards 3. Legend of the Astral Hammer 4. Goblin King of the Darkstorm Galaxy 5. The Hollywood Hootsman 6. Victorious Eagle Warfare 7. Questlords of Inverness, Ride to the Galactic Fortress! 8. Universe on Fire 9. Heroes (of Dundee) 10. Apocalypse 1992 GLORYHAMMER on the future: “In the coming weeks and months we will reveal how to pre-order the album in various legendary formats, and we may even release a song online for you all to hear! We also have some touring announcement coming …Stay tuned, mighty warriors! Legendary Hails, Gloryhammer” For More Info Visit: http://www.gloryhammer.com http://www.facebook.com/gloryhammer http://www.napalmrecords.com http://www.facebook.com/napalmrecords

Dream Quest Series

The Dream Quest Series revolves around one knight, Blade, an enigmatic warrior of unknown origins and mystical power, and his girlfriend, Sazz. No mortal man is any match for them in battle. No sorcery can contain or confound them. No scholar or sage can outwit them. But for all their skills, they are just like us; a man, a woman, humans who shares our faults, our dreams, and our ambitions. They boldly strides across the land, fearless, peerless, and cloaked in mystery; all their will bent on righting such wrongs as they deemed right. When Shadow Warriors open a gateway to the very pits of hell, releasing outer demons of the darkest nightmare upon the world, only these two stand in their way. They both take up the mantle of their noble house to hold back the tide of chaos that threatens to engulf the world and destroy mankind. Soldier of fortune recruits are led by Blade and Sazz, two very mysterious mercenaries that have mystical power to stand against the dark creatures. Blade and Sazz take up their swords one last time against the coming darkness — a darkness from which only they will emerge.”

Analyze your Writing

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like Stephen King.

This is so easy to find out about your writing style, just paste a few lines of what you have published into box and see what happens Analyze your writing!

Veil of Darkness

story as it is in the unfinished stage Veil of Darkness Darker and more chilling than other books of your favorite literary genre, that I promise to unsettle your brain and tease your imagination. Magicians, wizards, werewolves, witches, and vampires are not the only monsters lurking inside these pages, and readers won't be sure at the outset if the entities they are seeing are good or evil. Indeed, most are a shady mixture of both. Most hide under some kind of veil of darkness.

Facebook Testing ‘Save’ Buttons for Videos

Facebook is testing a new ‘Save’ button on its social network to encourage its members to view even more videos. The social media site confirmed it is testing the new function, although currently, only on desktop. As part of the feature, a small ‘Save’ icon appears when the users mouse passes over the top right corner, or the clip is scrolled passed. Video has grown by leaps and bounds on Facebook since last year. The number of video posts per person has risen a whopping 94 percent in the U.S. Globally, it has risen 75 percent per person. Once videos from brands are factored in as well, video has increased 3.6 times worldwide in the past year. Already there are approximately four billion videos views each day. Taking the increasing interest in videos to heart, Facebook in March announced an embeddable player to make it easy for members to share videos on the social network on their own sites and blogs. In June the site tweaked its news feed algorithm to surface videos users would be interested in.

Nightmares

NIGHTMARES ARE OFTEN built with the bricks of reality. I could not escape from either bad dreams or bad reality. An ominous stillness came over the camp, and Blade sensed something in the air, though he knew not what. It was nearly dawn, not quite time for the soldiers to awaken, and he started for the opening of the tent. “Stay here and stay quiet. I’ll be back as soon as I know what’s going on outside, Blade had whispered to Sazz." The muscles in his jaw contracted. From the moment he’d opened the tent flap and seen the body of his friend on the ground, his throat tightened, but he refused to let fear rule him. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. I put my hand on Rick’s chest, and I felt his ragged, broken body shuddering in death like a trapped animal. His soul knew that it was incomplete, and that it was caged inside a dying vessel.

veil-of-darkness-a-necessary-evil

https://www.wattpad.com/148103747-veil-of-darkness-a-necessary-evil anyone and everyone welcomed to write in this project so here is your chance to express yourselves

Veil of Darkness

Thank you for the warm welcome. I finished my first book which I started about a year ago. It was a series book. Dream Quest Series: The Wolf Dream, it is published on Smashwords a few days ago. I'm finishing my 2nd book; this one is an dark saga. I had a dramatic change take place in my life at 60 years old that made me want to pursue a life-long dream of being a writer. I started working when I was only 8 years old, after 52 1/2 years of working, I had four heart attacks and for 4 more years I had several others, before I retired two years ago. I have plans to write more books and continue to write articles for large websites( I have had a few poems published). I want to learn about writing newsletters, copywriting and ghost writing. I'm also looking forward to learning and sharing with everyone.

Here is a blurb from my next project... The Dream Quest Series First book edition: Veil of Darkness NIGHTMARES ARE OFTEN built with the bricks of reality. I could not escape from either bad dreams or bad reality. An ominous stillness came over the camp, and Blade sensed something in the air, though he knew not what. It was nearly dawn, not quite time for the soldiers to awaken, and he started for the opening of the tent. “Stay here and stay quiet. I’ll be back as soon as I know what’s going on outside, Blade had whispered to Sazz." The muscles in his jaw contracted. From the moment he’d opened the tent flap and seen the body of his friend on the ground, his throat tightened, but he refused to let fear rule him. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. I put my hand on Rick’s chest, and I felt his ragged, broken body shuttering in death like a trapped animal. His soul knew that it was incomplete, and that it was caged inside a dying vessel. What had caused that suffering, that confusion? Why was he on the ground spilling his life-blood? He felt the doom in his bones. “C’mon,” I said softly, opening up the tent flap, it was time get out of there. The sun was just barely up, and Blade tried in vain to shut out the sound of Sazz screaming at what remained of his friend, as they kept to the shadows and headed for the woods. How could one man ruin so many lives? No, not ruin. Destroy. He no longer had a right to live. Not after all the blood he’d greedily spilled with his sword. Not after all the atrocities he’d committed. Yet here he stood. Somewhere in the distant, unrecorded past he had been alone. It wasn’t fun being the gatekeeper to hell. The only thing worse was being evil’s bitch, and Gunon had been that, too. Willingly. Unashamed. Undead. A twice-designated guardian to a world he’d done his damnedest to annihilate. Yeah, it didn’t make sense to him either. The spirits were ever a mystery. He couldn’t even begin to fathom their reasoning in allowing him to return here. But then the one lesson he’d learned through all of this was the truth in the old saying—man has responsibility, not power. After all these years, he finally understood what that meant. I will not fail them. Or himself.

The Dream Cycle 'Oath of Blood'

"I have seen the night torn into tiny dark strips and woven into shapes too bleak for dreams."
‘What does all this have to do with Sazz?’ snapped Blade. "Or perhaps if I told, how my people guard the gates between this world and the world of magic, a brotherhood sworn to guard the wall between the human world and the demon realm, have relied only on one another for centuries?"
"The same,’ agreed Blade. "They would laugh into my face, beat me for the intrusion, and lock me in their deepest dungeon for the rest of my days. No, there’s nothing that can be done. We stand alone in this fight…win or lose."
In her, he sees a strength he admires and a body he longs to caress. Yet demons are determined to break down the portal Blade has sworn to protect, using Sazz as their key. Now as a rogue sorcerer leads the enemy ever closer, Sazz and Blade have only one hope. Both must surrender to their darkest passions--and unleash their most dangerous, untested desires. -Which is more deadly, their passion or their power?
Find out in the upcoming book The Dream Cycle 'Oath of the Blood' coming soon.

—Blade the swordmaster

My Book Widget

Finished book

Book is finally ready hope you enjoy it.

Dream Quest Series: What are you working on next?

Dream Quest Series: What are you working on next? Obviously, The Dream ...: What are you working on next? Obviously, The Dream Quest Series is set up for a sequels. I've written the first three chapters so far, t...

What are you working on next? Obviously, The Dream Quest Series is set up for a sequels. I've written the first three chapters so far, they are quite fast-paced, but I'm pleased so far that the character of Blade has translated well into the new plots, which is quite twisted and has a few shocks and surprises. Some other Dream Quest characters crop up too, it's a chance to explore the darker sides of people who in The Wolf Dream are just names in Blade's history. The working title is Dark Master (sorry Brian and Linda!). I've also got a third plot roughed out for a third Blade outing - I believe it has a killer twist, if I can pull off the writing! So it may end up as what some would describe as a threesome ("trilogy" is way too fancy a title!).

The oldest, most divesting war of all time has found a way into the world, and is now inflicting itself on all of creation. Heaven and Hell are no longer the only settings for this terrible conflict. The story is taken a place right now on our planet in the 21st century. Angels and demons are among us. And they are bringing their war down upon us. A war in which we are insignificant; a war that we would not have thought possible and that will change our lives forever.

BLADE snapped awake, gasping for breath, and the dark dreams that held him abated. The sun was chasing away the morning fog, and the lingering unease slowly retreated just below the surface of his thoughts. “Are you all right?” Sazz asked solemnly. “Those must have been some dreams. You were muttering most of the night, but I guess that is to be expected given the circumstances,” Sazz said, glancing at Blade. Blade wondered what he had been muttering, and for a moment he considered just telling Sazz everything. How long would these dreams haunt him? How long had it been since his dreams were just that—dreams, a brief respite from the waking world? Where would these dreams take him?

Prologue to The Wolf Dream

Prologue

He's in the dream and wants to wake up, but when he does he has this giant wolf inside him, and he jumps off the front porch into the yard and tries to roll it away, but it won't go. It's rapidly taking over and he is growling and he feels his tailbone begin to extend until there is this long beating thing behind him. His eyes have rays that spread from pupil into the iris. Their sometimes called flashes, and is a sign of psychic powers. That is why the color of them cast off a golden hue. He turned his head this way and that as the Wolf Dream began, and the air was full of scents he was starting to recognize. He opened his mouth and his tongue came out, as he started panting. He opened his eyes wide, and then howled as the dreams pike built to finish the Wolf Dream. He was coming into the Wolf Dream too strongly; to try to control this spike was like trying to contain the wolf from coming out. He could only control his thoughts of the real world, keeping him from entering the Wolf Dream too quickly. Step by step he learned balance; wolf whenever the wolf was needed and the man whenever the man was needed. He let himself be drawn into the dream. Blade was quick to learn, and having been the one who created the Dream Gate gave him the advantage. Where would this path of understanding lead? He moved awkwardly toward the shelter of the forest. If he is apprehensive or disrupted by an enemy, he will kill. He is the master of the Wolf Dream. So those are the details, the facts. That is how the story ends. But the story never ends, does it? History- the rolling waves of thunder of incidence after incidence, propelled by lightening, currents of chance and luck and coincidence- streams right along with no regard for beginning or endings. The only true end is present moment, the seething forward edge of the wave. So let me bring you right up to the present. As I write this, the story must be told exactly as it unfolds.