Using Character Sheets in Fiction Writing

Writing fiction is a bit like baking a cake. You need the right ingredients in the right amounts, or it will turn out awful. For fiction, you need the right combination of plot, action, description and character development to bring your story to life for your reader.

Character development can be one of the most important things about writing fiction. You want to create a realistic group of characters to move your plot along and to do that you need to know them. But how much do you really have to know about them before you start writing?

Well, that depends on the kind of story you are writing. The length of your tale will dictate the amount of character information you will need to make them come to life. For simplicity's sake, I've broken my character sheet down into what I use for each type of writing. Your character sheets may vary.

Using Character Sheets in Fiction Writing

Flash Fiction

Writing flash fiction is one of the hardest types of writing. You have to create a story with just the minimum of words and it has to make sense. For most flash fiction, you only need the most basic character information.

Name:

Age:

Height:

Weight:

Hair color and style:

Eye color:

Complexion and skin tone:

Character's body build:

These should be enough to create a flash fiction character.

Short Stories

Short stories have a higher word count, so the characters in those should be more developed. You have more leeway with your character's descriptions and can even give background information, which will make them more real for your readers. Use the above information and add the following:

Character back story:

Identifying marks:

Facial features:

Hand features:

Scent:

Mannerisms or gestures:

Novellas and Novels

Novellas and novels require the most detailed characters because they are as much character driven stories as plot driven. Character sheets with more detailed physical description, personality traits, and an extensive background will go a long way to making your story one that pulls a reader in and keeps them reader from beginning to end. Use all of the above plus the following:

Strongest personality traits:

Weakest personality traits:

Needs of the character:

Ambitions:

Father's name:

Age:

Physical appearance:

Mother's name:

Age:

Physical appearance:

Sibling's names and descriptions:

Favorite sayings:

Interests and hobbies:

Favorite foods:

Favorite colors:

Pets:

Education:

Religion:

Financial situation:

Future plans:

Possessions this character values most:

What drives your character:

How does your character handle conflict:

What is standing in your character's way:

What is their favorite room and why:

What vehicle do they drive:

Favorite sport(s):

What are your character's prejudices:

How does your character feel about love:

About crime:

What is their neighborhood like:

What is your character's philosophy on life:

What is your character's family life like:

You also should have a rough background and timeline for this character, from childhood through the start of the story. Break it down into 5 year spans, unless your character is fairly old, then go with 10 year spans. Finally, have a profile summary, taking everything you have for the character and write up a one or two paragraph summary. It is a good way to focus your character's information, and could be used in your story.

Book Series

When writing a series of books about the same characters, it is imperative to keep some kind of record of their traits. Do not rely on your memory when it comes to writing each book. As an avid reader of series books, it is amazing the number of times a character's eyes have been dark blue in one book and dark brown in another then gone back to blue. While most casual readers won't catch that kind of mistake, your dedicated readers will. It costs you nothing to keep a notebook with your character sheets and reference it when writing the next book in your series. It will go a long way to keep the continuity of your books intact.

A note on describing clothing. Unless clothing change is crucial to your story's plot limit your fashion descriptions. You do not need to tell every single piece of clothing your character is wearing. A basic idea of their attire is enough for most readers.

Your characters are as important to your story as your plot. Developing them will help bring your tale to life, but taking the time to plan them out prior to writing is a great way to make them real to you and your reader.

Using Character Sheets in Fiction Writing
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Dawn Arkin is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers. Her portfolio can be found at http://darkin.Writing.Com/ so stop by and read for a while.

Selecting a Creative Business Name - Here's Why and How

Picture yourself trying to name a baby, especially your own. You would make sure that you take enough time and put in enough effort before you close in on any one name, while also trying to ensure that the name that is given to your baby is as unique as possible. So why should naming your own business be any different? Of course, the two aren't exactly the same, but the point is that naming your business calls for as much attention as naming your newborn baby.

While starting a business from scratch does involve a lot of hard work and planning, there are scores of businesses that do not pay enough attention to giving their businesses appropriate names. In looking for a suitable name for your new business/company you should take every effort in looking for creative business names as this would help set your business apart from its competitors and give you the edge you so badly need, especially at the onset.

One of the most common mistakes that new businesses make in giving the businesses a name is that even though the business name might be descriptive and accurate, it turns out to be quite forgettable. One of the primary reasons for this to happen is that the business name lacks creativity.

Selecting a Creative Business Name - Here's Why and How

Many business names are decided in the boardroom wherein a number of decision makers sit around a table tossing names in the air. With no expertise in this endeavor (yes, naming your business is an endeavor in itself) there is every possibility that the good names are overlooked and what is picked is an inappropriate business name. The end result of such an exercise is your business losing out on getting the required attention and fading into oblivion.

There are a number of aspects that need to be looked into before you decide on any one name for your business. These include looking at the supporting elements, seeing the context, and ensuring that the new name that you come up with is does not find itself associated with names from the past. The creative aspect of naming a business is very important as this makes your business name eye catching and gets your prospective and probable customers to look in the right direction. However, you must remember that a creative business name isn't enough if you haven't taken the other aspects into consideration.

The closer you can get to pinpointing the 'what' of your business, the more is the possibility of coming up with a suitable creative business name. On the other hand, this could also lead to your business name turning out to be more of a description instead of a business name. This is why it is important that if you are unsure about the process of naming your business, you seek professional guidance (and plenty is easily available).

So no matter what you decide to name your business, make sure that it does not lack in creativity, as this will ensure that your business can make that much needed initial mark, and this will also ensure a much smoother ride for the future.

Selecting a Creative Business Name - Here's Why and How
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creative business names

The Vintage Scrapbook - Eight Creative Ideas For Using Vintage Images in Your Scrapbooks

Vintage images can add a nostalgic dimension to your scrapbooking. Whether they are illustrations from an artist's hand, early photographs, or antique paper items like advertisements, newspapers or other ephemera, they lend instant artwork to your scrapbooking project. These pictures from the past also capture the essence of an occasion or an emotion, verifying that the important things in life don't change over time.

Many kinds of vintage images are available digitally through simple online downloads -- just try a Google search for "vintage images." Though most will be in the public domain, be aware of any usage restrictions you find.

Here are eight ideas to spark your imagination!

The Vintage Scrapbook - Eight Creative Ideas For Using Vintage Images in Your Scrapbooks

Use the full image as a centerpiece. Choose an image that reflects the theme of your page; a photo of an antique car for your page about your son's new car; a jolly Victorian St. Nicholas for a Christmas page; a vintage Eiffel Tower photo for your Paris vacation page. Place the image centrally and lay out your photos around it. Enlarge the image as your background. Many images are perfect for backgrounds, such as handwriting on aged paper or a pastoral scene. If the digital image is high resolution (150-300 dpi), you can probably enlarge it to the size of your scrapbook page. Use the background colors to determine your photo matting palette. Layout your photos, text and embellishments so the background image peeks through. Cut out "scraps" as embellishments. A major pastime for Victorian women was cutting out small illustrations (called "scraps") and pasting them in books - hence, scrapbooks. Many vintage images include comical figures, holiday symbols, good-luck charms, and more. Simply resize and print them from your computer and cut them out with manicure scissors. Glue them onto your page where you need a nostalgic embellishment! Create frames or borders from the images. Many vintage postcards and greeting cards were designed with fanciful decorative borders. Resize and print them on your computer, cut out the center, and you have an ornate vintage frame for your photos or text. Use vintage written sentiments as inspiration for your journaling. Long before Hallmark, Victorian-era postcards were created for all occasions (even Leap Year) with snippets of poetry and flowery sentiments. Incorporate these texts and artwork into your scrapbook page for a touching message from the past. Borrow the colors from an image to set the palette for your scrapbook page. Choose an image that attracts you with colors, bright or subdued, or even a striking black and white or sepia-tone photo. Use those colors and shades in your background, matting and texts to create a harmonized, coordinated look. Alter vintage images with paint, ink, rubber stamping or other treatments. "Altered art" is both fun and trendy. Take a basic image and add your own touches with paint, foil, cutting, folding, stamping, embossing, burning -- pretty much anything. What you add and how you do it can make an image comical, provocative or nostalgic. When in doubt -- it seems -- put butterfly wings on a baby photo. Let your personal photos "interact" with vintage images. Find a vintage photo or illustration that fits your theme -- perhaps a picture of a seated Santa. Now, size and cut out a silhouette of your child, and place her on Santa's lap. Or, start with a vintage beach scene, with everyone posing in long-legged bathing dresses. Add your daughter to the lineup in her bikini. You are limited only by your dexterity with scissors or your prowess with your computer's graphics software.

These eight ideas are just a start. Virtually any scrapbooking technique can be applied to vintage images. Happy scrapping!

The Vintage Scrapbook - Eight Creative Ideas For Using Vintage Images in Your Scrapbooks
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Scott Henderson founded Vintage Image Craft (http://www.vintageimagecraft.com) for crafters and scrapbookers who love creating with vintage images. Visit for free ideas, techniques, instructions and vintage image downloads.

Newsletter Names - Creative Ideas for Newsletter Titles

Your newsletter name has a big effect on your readership, so it's essential you choose a good name right from the start. A good newsletter name will draw people to subscribe to your newsletter and read it, while a poor name will just make them run away.

Here are some ideas to help you come up with creative newsletter names...

#1. Your Niche

Newsletter Names - Creative Ideas for Newsletter Titles

You can include the name of your niche in your newsletter title to explain what the content is about. This is one of the most common naming techniques people use. Here are some sample newsletter names...

* Affiliate Marketing Facts

* Search Engine Optimization Advice

* Email Marketing Insider Tips

* Easy Gardening Guide

* Free Golf Tips

#2. Your Target Market

Your newsletter targets a certain audience, right? How about that you use their name in your newsletter title to attract their attention? This will tell them you offer the information that they want. Here are some good newsletter names...

* Affiliate Marketers Weekly

* Work at Home Moms

* Pet Lovers Tips & Trends

#3. Catchy Newsletter Names

Depending on your target market, this type of name can work for you. The benefit to these kind of names is that they're catchy and easy to remember. They're just creative names out of no where.

However, their weakness is that your audience can't understand what your newsletter is about. So you need to provide them with a short description everywhere you introduce your newsletter. Here are some creative newsletter names...

* The Great Gordino

* Scootey Lindo

* Zapping Tides

* Blue Velvet Times

You can also find a list of catchy newsletter names to get a lot of great name ideas for your own newsletter.

Wish you the best of luck with starting your newsletter!

Newsletter Names - Creative Ideas for Newsletter Titles
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Ladan Lashkari is giving away a FREE step-by-step guide to help you choose awesome newsletter names that draw people to subscribe and read your newsletter. Also you can find tons of creative newsletter ideas and helpful resources to make your newsletter even more amazing. So make sure you drop by http://www.FreeNewsletterIdeas.com while they are still available.

Write Your Family History - 50 Questions You Must Ask Parents Or Grandparents Before They Die

No one expected it.

While climbing into his hot tub, my healthy 87- year-old father-in-law slipped, fell, and broke a rib. He began internal bleeding that the doctors couldn't stop. In two weeks, Gene was gone.

Fortunately, we had taken time a few months earlier to record Gene's life story, and discovered some amazing facts. He was a semi-pro baseball player, a fine watercolorist, and a US Marine. As a marketing executive for Kaiser and later Del Monte, he worked on national advertising campaigns with mega-stars of his day, including Joan Crawford, Debbie Reynolds, Stan Musial, Lloyd Bridges and others.

Write Your Family History - 50 Questions You Must Ask Parents Or Grandparents Before They Die

We recorded Gene's life story on two occasions: once at a small family dinner, then during a living-room interview a few months later.

We transcribed the audio files of the recordings, added pictures, and then uploaded the whole package to a new free web site that helps people write great personal and family stories. (See resource section,below). Gene's family and friends can view his story and add comments or photos if they wish. The profile that we co-created with Gene is a celebration of his life. It's also a direct, meaningful connection with his daughters and their grandchildren. Anyone can create a life story for themselves or a loved one. It's as simple as setting aside some time and doing some careful listening.

I've helped hundreds of people across the US, Canada, and Mexico capture their life stories. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews, I've boiled down my experience into three key tips, and the 50 most productive questions you can use for success.

Success Tip #1: Pre-Interview Preparation is Key

To get the most from your family history session, be as prepared as possible.

. Inform the subject of the purpose of the interview, who will see it, and how it will be used · Prepare your questions in advance · Set aside a quiet time and place free from interruptions

· It's a good idea to use a voice or video recorder; test all equipment thoroughly before starting

· It's often useful to use a tape or digital recorder and transcribe the dictation

· Photos, mementos, or other visual aids are great memory-joggers. Ask your subject to prepare some in advance

· Listen attentively and gently; ask questions of clarification

· Don't try to force the subject into something they are uncomfortable discussing

Success Tip #2: Be Flexible and Creative

When I first started doing life story interviews, it seemed as if people spent the majority of time talking about their early days. As I got more experience, I began to realize that most people have one, two or possibly three key defining times in their lives. For many, it's childhood. For a lot of men, it's WWII, Korea, or Vietnam. The defining moments emerge like finding a gold nugget in a streambed. Be sensitive to these defining moments and episodes. Listen extra-carefully, and ask questions. Often a deeper portrait of an individual emerges, laden with rich experiences, values, beliefs, and layers of complexity. If you don't complete the interview in one sitting, set a date to resume your conversation later

Success Tip #3: Organize Life Stories into Chapters

Most people (yes, even shy ones) love to be the center of attention and share stories from their lives. There are two challenges for a family historian. The first is to capture the stories in a structured, logical way. The second is to make sure that the stories are as complete as possible and contain facts (names, dates, places), fully-drawn characters, a story line, and perhaps even a finale. The GreatLifeStories web site divides the life experience into 12 "chapters" that follow the progression of many lives. On the web site, each chapter contains anywhere from 10 to 25 questions. (Below, I've selected the 50 questions that usually get the best results). Don't worry; you don't have to ask them all. In fact, after one or two questions, you may not have to ask anymore-the interview takes on a life of its own.

The most important objective is to make sure you cover as many of the chapter headings as possible. The chapter headings are logical and somewhat chronological in order: Beginnings, School Days, Off to Work, Romance and Marriage, and so forth. Feel free to add your own chapters, as well. The 12-chapter system is a great way to organize both the interview, as well as the life story write up, video, or audio recording.

CHAPTER 1: In the Beginning

1. What were your parents and grandparents full names, dates of birth, places of birth.

2. What were the occupations of your parents?

3. How many children were in your family? Where were you in the lineup?

4. Generally speaking, what was your childhood like?

5. What one or two stories do you remember most clearly about your childhood?

6. Are there any particularly happy, funny, sad or instructive lessons you learned while growing up?

CHAPTER 2: In Your Neighborhood

1. What was it like where you grew up?

2. Describe your most important friendships

3. Where and how did "news of your neighborhood" usually flow?

CHAPTER 3 School Days

1. Be sure to capture names and dates attended of grammar, high, colleges, trade or technical schools

2. What are your earliest school day memories?

3. Are there any teachers or subjects you particularly liked or disliked?

4. What did you learn in those first years of school that you would like to pass along to the next generation?

5. Were you involved in sports, music, drama, or other extra-curricular activities?

CHAPTER 4: Off to Work

1. What did you want to be when you grew up?

2. What was your first job, and how did you get it?

3. What was your first boss like? What did you learn from him or her?

4. Did you leave? Quit? Get promoted? Get fired?

5. Were you ever out of work for a long time? If so, how did you handle it?

CHAPTER 5 Romance & Marriage

1. What do you recall about your first date?

2. How did you know you were really in love?

3. Tell me how you "popped the question," or how it was popped to you.

4. Tell me about your wedding ceremony. What year? Where? How many attended? Honeymoon?

5. Tell me about starting your family.

6. Were you married more than once? How often?

CHAPTER 6: Leisure and Travel

1. What were the most memorable family vacations or trips you can recall?

2. What leisure time activities are you involved with?

3. What are your greatest accomplishments in this field?

CHAPTER 7: Places of Worship

1. Do you follow any religious tradition?

2. If so which one, and what is it like?

3. Have you ever changed faiths?

4. What role do your beliefs play in your life today?

5. What would you tell your children about your faith?

CHAPTER 8 War & Peace

1. Were you a volunteer, drafted or a conscientious objector?

2. If you didn't serve, what do you recall about being on the home front during the war?

3. What key moments do you recall about your service?

4. What would you tell today's young soldiers, sailors and fliers?

CHAPTER 9 Triumph and Tragedy

1. What were the most joyous, fulfilling times of your life?

2. Any sad, tragic or difficult times you'd care to share such as losing a loved one, a job, or something you cared about?

3. What lifelong lessons did you learn from these tough times? Joyous times?

4. Were there any moments you recall as true breakthroughs in any area of your life?

5. If you could do one thing differently in your life, what would that be?

CHAPTER 10 Words of Wisdom

1. What have you learned over your lifetime that you'd like to share with the younger generation?

2. People will sometimes repeat aphorisms such as "honesty is the best policy." If they do, be sure to ask how they learned that life lesson.

CHAPTER 11: Funnybones

1. What were your family's favorite jokes or pranks?

2. Who is, or was, the family comedian? "Straight" man?

3. What's the funniest family story you remember?

CHAPTER 12 Thank You

1. What are you most grateful for you your life?

2. How have you taught your children to be grateful?

3. Are there items or places that mark special gratitude for the ones you love? What are they? What are their stories?

In closing, it is always a good idea to ask an open-ended question such as:" Is there anything I haven't asked about that you would care to comment on?" You'll often be surprised and delighted at the answers!

RESOURCES:

For many more tips on how to capture precious family history, visit www.GreatLifeStories.com

Write Your Family History - 50 Questions You Must Ask Parents Or Grandparents Before They Die
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Mike Brozda is one of the founding members of the GreatLifeStories team. A veteran journalist, he has more than 30 years experience writing for national and international publications.

Tips to Improve Writing Prose

Writing prose can be something that is not easy to do. Most of the problems in writing prose are about finding the ideas. If you want to improve your ability in writing prose, there are actually some important factors that you have to consider. For that reason, here are going to give you some tips to improve writing prose.

The first think that you have to do is to complete the first draft of the part you want to write. Before you start to write, you have to determine the topic, the goal, and the style of your writing. What you have to underline here is when you are writing you should be focused on quickly writing without worrying about the punctuation, spelling, or word count.

After you have finished the first draft, what you have to do is to check out the spelling of your writing. Try to find the basic errors through the whole first draft. Also, you have to examine if there is grammatical error since it can distract the reader and decline your credibility as a writer.

Tips to Improve Writing Prose

Moreover, you need to avoid writing in a very long sentence because it is not effective to be read. It is better for you to write in shorter sentence so that it will provide effective information for the reader. Besides, the paragraphs also do not need to be too long in order to make the reader easily digest information from your writing.

In addition, you need to change passive voice into active voice. It is because active voice will make your prose to be more alive. After that, print your writing and try to read it loudly to easily find other errors. So, you can revise it and you will find your writing prose to a perfect writing.

Tips to Improve Writing Prose
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Writing Your Life Story - Tips And Techniques For Success

Once a luxury of the rich and famous, technology has, for the first time in history, made it possible for anyone to capture, share and preserve their most precious life stories. With the advent of computers, the Internet, digital photography, video, and audio, anyone can capture the richness and texture of their life stories. These personal histories will be appreciated by family, friends, and future generations.

Today it is possible to easily blend the art of traditional biography and memoir with powerful new technologies into a new form of individual life storytelling: the personal life history. Personal life histories are satisfying to create. And, because of the interactive multimedia possibilities inherent in computers and the web, a well-done personal life history can be rich and fully rounded in ways that are impossible to achieve in text-only memoir or biography. But most importantly, personal life histories preserve vital individual and family stories. And, when properly done, they will last for generations.

In this article you will discover how to use time-honored life story writing techniques along with the latest technologies to create a story that is uniquely "you."

Writing Your Life Story - Tips And Techniques For Success

The Art of Traditional Life-Story Formats

For anyone interested in creating their own autobiography, memoir or personal life history, it is important to understand the distinctions between these forms of telling one's own life story. To over-generalize for a moment, an autobiography is more fact-based, while a memoir is more emotion-based.

Autobiographies are written by the subject, sometimes with the collaboration of another writer. Autobiographical works take many forms, from intimate writings made during life that are not necessarily intended for publication (including letters, diaries, journals, memoirs, and reminiscences) to the formal autobiography. Interestingly, the autobiography format does not necessarily have to be true. It may also be a literary fictional tale.

Memoirs are a form of personal recollection that has grown enormously in popularity in recent times. Memoirs often focus on more subjective recollections such as memories, feelings, and emotions and are generally written from the first-person viewpoint. The memoir is often focused on capturing certain meaningful highlights or moments.

In his own Memoir, Palimpest, Gore Vidal writes that "a memoir is how one remembers one's own life, while an autobiography is history, requiring research, dates, facts double-checked."

Memoirs usually focus on a brief period of time or a series of connected events (an autobiography covers a longer time period). In a memoir, the writer is usually retrospective, and contemplating past events. Memoirs may incorporate the techniques of storytelling such as setting, plot, conflict, character development, foreshadowing, flashback, irony or symbolism. And lastly, writing one's memoir often has a therapeutic effect for the writer.

Oral History Recordings

An oral history is a verbatim transcription of an interview, left in the narrator's exact words. These are usually left in a question-and-answer style and are an economical way to preserve family stories. A recording system with a good-quality microphone and a quiet spot free from interruptions are all that is really needed to capture an oral history. It helps to have questions prepared in advance of the interview.

Oral histories are usually recorded using analog tape or digital recording equipment, but it is also possible to record directly into a personal computer. Oral histories are often transcribed (typed or word processed) into a document format. The conversational style is appealing for its easygoing informality.

Caveats: Recording formats and standards are constantly evolving and could become difficult or impossible to play back if the equipment becomes obsolete. Taped recordings decay over time.

Video History Recordings

Do-it-Yourself: At the basic level, it's easy and fun to create a basic video history. Camcorders are relatively inexpensive, and many computers today come with basic editing software. Capturing a good video history shares all of the same prerequisites as an audio recording: a quiet spot, with questions prepared in advance. Plus, you will want an uncluttered background, flattering lighting, and right clothing to improve the quality of the end product. White shirts, pants or dresses, for example don't show up well on video. Likewise, busy patterns can be distracting. Solid light-colored neutrals or pastels are usually safe.

Professional videographers: A large number of professional video companies specialize in the creation of life story productions. Productions may range from a 10 or 15 minute short to an hour or longer mini-movie, complete with titles, music, and other Hollywood-style effects. Naturally, you'll pay more for a professional production than a homegrown effort.

When selecting a professional use all the usual smart-consumer tips. Ask for references. Ask to see samples of prior work. Get all costs, production timetables and commitments in writing. It's delightful to have movies of an individual or family. When well-executed they often have entertainment value and are great for special occasions.

Caveat: As with audio recordings, formats change over time, and media can degrade, even with proper storage methods

The Integration of Art and Technology: Web-Based Personal Life Histories

Just in the last few years, the Web has emerged as a powerful new medium for creating and sharing life stories. On the web it is not only possible, it is enjoyable and easy to create a rich multimedia story with text, photos, audio and video. This is the new format of the personal life history.

Web-based personal life histories enjoy several advantages over paper-based publishing, audio, video, or even CD life stories. Specifically, Web-based publication is updateable-one can add new information at any time. It is easily shareable among friends or family. The most advanced sites offer choices of privacy and security protection. The web is also multimedia, meaning you can add text, photos, audio, and video. Photos, audio, video are never lost, damaged destroyed. An finally, many sites offer print-on-demand, allowing you to create instant books. The books may be printed on your home printer, or sent out to small-run publishers. If you choose the small-run option, be sure to specify archival quality paper.

One of the biggest advantages of web publishing is the ability to build community around similar interests, occupations, backgrounds or life events. For example, a WWII veteran pilot who posts his story to the Web and makes it available to the public may be contacted by long-lost friends, other veterans, students, historians, museum personnel, or others interested in this pivotal chapter in American history.

Why Create Your Personal Life History?

Mark Twain once said: "There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is impossibility. Inside everyone, there is a drama, a comedy, a tragedy."

A personal life history can be as short as a few pages, or several volumes in length. Whatever the length or medium, it requires thoughtfulness and sometimes quite a bit of work to accomplish. But the work is worthwhile because it has the ability to influence generations ahead. Your personal life history may leave a legacy for your children and grandchildren. As with memoir, writing a personal history allows you to examine and reflect on your life up to the present day. It lets you add your story to the larger historical record of your family, city, and country. And lastly, if you don't do it, who will?

Start with a Timeline of Life Chapters

How does one start to tell the story of a life that may cover 60, 70, 80 years or more? Often it's helpful to create a chronological timeline of major events in your life. It helps to jot down a few notes around key phases in your life. In fact, you may already be thinking of your life as a book, with separate, distinct chapters built around important life episodes.

Of course, not everyone's life follows an identical chronological sequence, but here are a few ideas for chapter headings for your book or story. GreatLifeStories.com uses the following "chapters" to organize life stories:

o Your Beginnings

o In Your Neighborhood

o School Days

o Off to Work

o Romance and Marriage

o War and Peace

o Triumphs and Tragedies

o Words of Wisdom

o Humor

o Words of Gratitude

The chapter system is very flexible. For example, you don't have to start your life story with the days of your birth and youth. Perhaps you had a fascinating experience during the war. As with a movie, you might open your life story with that "scene," then tell the story how you got there.

Once you've got an idea for the "flow," of your story, here are some more specific guidelines to help add color, texture, and authenticity:

Just start writing! Do a mind dump. Get it out of your head and down on paper, the computer, the tape recorder, wherever. Don't worry about how it sounds. Just write. Resist the temptation to edit yourself; there will be time for editing later. Be yourself. Don't worry if your grammar or spelling isn't perfect. Write it as you would say it.Honesty is everything. The best writing tells it like it happened. Include humor. Favorite jokes, stories, anecdotesDetail, detail, detail. What kind of floor did the kitchen have? What color was the scarf she wore when you first met? Go at a comfortable pace. Don't try to capture an entire lifetime in a single session of furious writing. Write, allow time to reflect, and return again to writing. Consult others. Family members and friends can be invaluable sources of facts and interpretation.Use photos to jog your memory. Tip: Set out photos in a timeline of your life, starting from your very youngest days, and moving through current times. Write or record to your visual storyboardLook for themes in your life. Themes are broad ideas that are central to your life. Did you always want to be a pilot? A preacher? Own a restaurant? Be a farmer? Tell the story of how you met your goal, or how the goal changed to something else totally unexpected.

Here are just a few other thematic life story possibilities: a. The Spiritual quest b. The Confession c. The Travelogue d. The Portrait e. The Complaint f. Humor g. The Family history h. The Road to Recovery i. War Story j. Romance

Another Option: Hire a Professional

Most of this article has been focused on creating the do-it-yourself personal life history. There is, of course, the option of working with a professional. The right professional writer or videographer is a highly skilled interviewer and has the proper tools and equipment. And, believe it or not, it is sometimes easier for someone to open up in front of a stranger rather than in front of a family member.

There are many approaches to working with writers or videographers. However, there are a number of similarities in common. The writer/videographer often:

1) Meets with you to determine the scope and cost of the project.

2) Usually sets up taped interview sessions. Depending on your objectives, these may be an hour or two, or 10, 20 hours or more.

3) The recording is transcribed and edited with your input and guidance

4) Once a final manuscript/movie is agreed upon, it may be sent out for printing or duplication.

5) For books, personal history professionals recommend archival bindings and acid-free paper for longevity

6) You receive the number of books/movies agreed upon in your contract.

7) Be sure to discuss services, fees and end products in advance, and get all agreements in writing.

Thanks to high technology, the art of capturing and preserving the stories from one's own life is now open to more people and easier than ever before. A new genre of personal storytelling is emerging that draws on the literary traditions of the autobiography and memoir, while adding audio, video, and web technology to create personal life histories. On the Web, these personal stories personal life histories are multimedia, collaborative, shareable, and instantly updateable.

Enjoy capturing your life story!

References and Further Reading

Web Sites:

http://www.greatlifestories.com

Associations:

The Association of Personal Historians is a 600+ member organization of professional personal historians who create life stories in all formats: text, audio, video. http://www.personalhistorians.org

How-to Books:

There are many good books filled with different approaches and tips for writing a personal life history. Here are just a few:

Daniel, Lios, How to Write Your Own Life Story

Rainer, Tristine, Your Life as Story Books

Roorbach, Bill, Writing Life Stories

Writing Your Life Story - Tips And Techniques For Success
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Mike Brozda is one of the founding members of the GreatLifeStories team. A veteran journalist, he has more than 30 years experience writing for national and international publications. He has also created more than 150 personal life histories for people across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Contact him at mike.brozda@yahoo.com

Creative Writing- The 5 Key Elements To Prolific Creative Writing

Anyone can be a more prolific and more creative writer than they currently are.

Yes, there are natural talents and abilities that come into play up to a point.

But much of what it takes to be accomplished and prolific in your creative writing can be learnt, practiced and developed.

Creative Writing- The 5 Key Elements To Prolific Creative Writing

Some writers may be able to switch their writing abilities on and off like a switch. But for most of us it takes a lot more dedication and focus.

The good news is that we can all improve our creative writing output in both quality and quantity if we pay attention to these 5 key elements:

1. Believing that you CAN be prolific. First and foremost, if you don't deep down believe that you can write creatively, this limiting belief will severely restrict all your creative writing.

Like a wasp trapped in a jam jar, however furiously you struggle, you'll be buzzing around in a very limited space. Have an honest assessment of your beliefs around your creative writing, and if necessary, give them a positive tune up.

2. A good supply of ideas. Every book, every article, every poem - everything that's ever been written - began with an idea. What do you do to ensure you have a steady stream of new ideas to develop in your writing?

The most valuable element of having a good supply of ideas is to catch them as they appear and record them in enough detail so when you return to expand them the essence is strongly there. Use a notebook or voice recorder to do this as they arise.

3. Using regular routines. One of the greatest resistances writers have is to getting into regular routines and ways of working. They feel it'll somehow stifle their creativity and stop them being spontaneous and free in creating.

The only thing that will restrict your writing is you. Develop regular writing routines and you actually give yourself permission to create more often and more freely.

4. A conducive writing environment. If you come to write at your desk and there's papers everywhere, you can't find where your notes are from last time, or there's stacks of unrelated clutter all around, you're not going to be inspired to write freely.

You want to be able to come to your writing space and flow straight into writing without any unnecessary physical distractions. Do whatever you need to create a calm space where you can write as easily possible.

5. Learn from feedback. The only way to get better in anything is to do the best you can at this point, then listen to feedback about what was good and what could be improved and act upon that feedback.

Build a support team around you who you trust to give an honest appraisal of your creative writing, while remaining positive and encouraging.

These are the 5 key elements to being a prolific and developing in your creative writing.

Which of them do you have strongly in place already?

And which would it benefit you to spend a little more time and focus on improving?

Creative Writing- The 5 Key Elements To Prolific Creative Writing
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Discover more about how you can develop YOUR creative writing right away. Get your FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse at http://www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com

Creativity Coach and keen creative writer Dan Goodwin helps people who are frustrated they're not making the best of their unique creative abilities. See more at his website: http://www.CoachCreative.com

Writing Contests for Teens - Something to Do With a Boring Summer!

Somewhere between standardized testing, number 2 pencils, and bubble in the circle...children lose their love for learning. With the loss of funding in most schools, and in some places so much so that there is not enough money to supply even text books, the fine arts programs take a back seat to math, science and language.

Learning stopped being fun for kids somewhere around the time that the music programs were slashed, fine arts and art classes were removed or made extracurricular, and school libraries have to make do with what they can get through grants and donations.

All children need a way to escape, to be transported to magical times and places, faraway lands they may never visit in real life, or take a trip through history. Video games have become the way of the future, but there's not a lot to be learned from a video game. So how can children learn while also enjoying the experience? By reading!

Writing Contests for Teens - Something to Do With a Boring Summer!

The problem is, reading isn't as exciting to children as it once was. Computers, video games, internet, and other such modern marvels have taken the place of a good book in many youngster's lives. There is nothing wrong with these kids loving the internet, and there is much that can be gained by using the internet. In fact, a lot of these children use blogs as a creative expression and outlet, so they are writing. So why not take that writing these kids are doing and put it to some creative use?

There is a way. Several small publishers have opened up writing and illustration contests to young readers. These contests allow children to use their creative talents while also having a chance to be published in books or periodicals sold all over the country and even receive royalty contracts or scholarships.

One such publisher, who has created contests for kids this summer, and they also plan to keep contests running for children all year round, is Koboca Publishing. I recently spoke with Bo Savino, the author of Reggie & Ryssa, and the Summer Camp of Faery, one of the books used for facilitating this contest through Koboca Publishing, and here is what she had to say about the children's contests:

"I am very excited about the contests... [They are] going to be a great thing to energize kids...I love that most of all."

While most traditional writing and illustration contests have entry fees, Koboca Publishing's contests for kids don't have any entry fees at all. When I asked why Koboca Publishing decided not to charge an entry fee, here is what they had to say:

"No entry fees.... and [we] could probably make some money from entry fees...but [we] want it available for all kids...and some won't be able to do it with entry fees."

There are other small publishers and magazine publications / periodicals that offer writing and illustration contests for children too. Some of these charge small entry fees, some charge no entry fees, but they all offer a child a way to see their name and their art or work in print, while at the same time bringing back a love for literature and the arts. To find these contests, simply use your favorite search engine and search for children's literature or writing contests. Be sure to always check the authenticity of the contests before entering or allowing your child to enter into the contest.

These contests can help foster a love for the fine arts again, by getting kids involved in the literary and illustrative process, making them a part of something bigger, along with some noteriaty that all kids crave. Why not pick up a few copies of some interesting books for your kids today and get them started on a journey into the unknown that reading can bring? After a few books, help your kids get involved in writing or illustrating for publishing companies that hold these contests for the types of books they enjoy. Not only will this help bring a love of the written word back to your child, but it just might keep them busy during those long summer months and you will no longer hear, "Mom, I'm sooo bored. There's nothing to do!"

Good luck to all who choose to enter contests this year!

Writing Contests for Teens - Something to Do With a Boring Summer!
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Michelle L Devon is a professional writer and professional freelance editor, providing editing and writing services through her company, Accentuate Services. For more information and additional hints and tips about writing and grammar, and to network and connect with other writers, please visit her FREE writer's forum at [http://www.writersforum.info].

Article Writing Examples - How to Write the Best Conclusion to Your Article - Part 1

Why is it that an article someone else wrote receives more clicks to their website from the resource box more than yours? A closer look will show you that the way you write a conclusion to your article may be the culprit.

I've compared similar articles by different authors, how to write a conclusion guides and have carried out a group test to determine that indeed some article conclusions or closing if you want, do have an impact the reader.

There are many ways to conclude your article effectively, and today we'll be looking at one effective way to writing an article conclusion so that you receive maximum website clicks through your resource box.

Article Writing Examples - How to Write the Best Conclusion to Your Article - Part 1

Sum up all your points together and give the reader a final overview of the topic at hand - Discuss the points you attempted to make and your conclusion about the issue (Don't make it sound as a repetition).

Three to five sentences should be sufficient to bring the article to a closure. This is also an opportunity for you to call your readers to action. Using a question is a great way to trigger the curious mind of your reader. In this conclusion we'll see how to do it effectively so that the reader of your article will take action to find out

For example, you can end by asking your audience a question and the next logical step will be for them to look for where to input the answer.

If I were to ask you now...

Do you follow me so far? - "YES" or "NO"?

Whether you like it or not, you have an answer in your head already. This is just how our mind works.

Asking questions are also a great way to build comments for your article. Some article directories provide you with this option. But what I like to use this method for is to instigate readers to take action by visiting my website.

Below are some of the ways you can start your "YES" or" NO" closing.

- Do you know where you can...?

- Did you want to find out...?

- Will you...?

Then follow up with your resource box with a call to action. The above is just on of the way to a powerful article conclusion. Would you like to find our more ways to conclude your article so that you get maximum click to your website?

Watch out for part 2 of this article.

Article Writing Examples - How to Write the Best Conclusion to Your Article - Part 1
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Improve Your Article Marketing Results Quickly? Try Super Fast Quality Articles http://superfastqualityarticles.com

Edward Hadome's specialty is psychology of online buying behavior. He's the author of "Super Fast Quality Articles." and creator of "Article Marketing Impact."