Creative Writing: How to Start Your Novel

When I was in the eleventh grade, I took a creative writing elective with one of the most brilliant teachers I've ever met. She was brutal, honest and highly creative; I don't know why she hadn't graduated to teaching college courses. In any event, she gave me the best writing advice I have ever gotten:

"The worst way to start your story is with a 'dark and stormy night'. It's been done. Other than that, the sky's the limit."

Creative Writing

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I took her advice to heart, and the stories I wrote for her class had the most creative beginnings I've ever written.

Creative Writing: How to Start Your Novel

Most beginning (and even veteran) writers struggle with how to open their novels. Dialogue? Action? Witty prose? How you start your novel with decide how many people buy it off bookstore shelves. Captivating your reader should be the first priority, but how do you know if it's exciting enough?

How to Start Your Novel with Dialogue

I rarely start novels with dialogue, mostly because I can never think of anything important enough to say. However, sometimes dialogue is the best way to get your novel off to a running start. If your characters are in the middle of a fight or if there's something you want to get right out in the open, dialogue can thrust your reader right into the opening scene of the novel.

That said, you have to be careful. Resist the urge to start your novel with dialogue like, "How are you feeling today?" If you plan to open with dialogue, it must be intelligent and important and captivating.

My only real advice for starting your novel with dialogue is to have only one line of speech before you insert some explanations. Even if the characters are in the middle of a conversation, don't confuse your reader by failing to give details.

How to Start Your Novel with Action

Obviously, action is the most popular way to start a novel. It's exciting, intriguing, and it lures your readers into the story before they even know what hit them.

This is especially true with mystery and suspense stories. In those genres, readers expect to be hooked from the get-go, and they want to be shocked from paragraph one.

How to Start Your Novel with Prose

In this case, "prose" really refers to description. Some of the most powerful novels of all time have begun with languid and lyrical description:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

"A squat grey building of only thirty-four stories..."

- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Description is my favorite way to start a novel because it eases the reader into the storyline. There are no expectations, no assumptions; your reader becomes immersed in the fictional world that you have created, and at your own pace; no one else's.

The only problem with this method is that you must find a unique way to describe the opening scene. My advice is to think about the characters and the setting and to pick out a remote object on which to comment. This takes your reader from a very specified place - the object - and into a more complex scene - your opening. For example, one of the books that I ghosted several years ago began like this:

"In a room filled with beautiful antique furniture and ancient artifacts from Egypt and Rome, the digital clock radio stuck out like a sore thumb. It's flashing green digits called attention to the clock as if to say, I may be new, but I'm still important. It struck me as odd that someone as refined and as old-world as Cunningham Thompson III would rely on such a technological timepiece." By drawing your readers' attention to something mundane, they will be twice as captivated when you get on with the plot.

Creative Writing: How to Start Your Novel

Laura J. College is a professional ghostwriter with more than ten years' experience writing fiction and non-fiction manuscripts. Her work can be found all over the Internet, and she is currently accepting ghostwriting clients. Check out her website at [http://www.laurajcollege.com]

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The Importance of Imagination

With children and their development, nothing is more important than imagination to help with the growth of thought processes and creativity. Children that are able to get away from it all and place themselves, mentally, in another world are more likely to be able to think "outside the box" and produce more creative results when learning and working. For this reason, the importance of imagination cannot be underestimated and should be encouraged when raising children.

Parents know the importance of curiosity in children. Curiosity holds an important place in the minds of kids because it helps provide them with the will to explore objects and places that they do not know. Children become curious from a very young age and begin to wonder about various notions in this broad universe, but it is imagination that helps carry the child beyond the boundaries of imagination and into a new world of discovery.

Creative Writing

It is imagination that begins to develop and occupy a very vital place in a child's mental world. With imagination, a child can move mountains, transport himself to a distant world, make himself smaller or larger, or disappear from sight. Imagination allows children to form new ideas and explore old ideas, all at once. For children with more to escape in their unfortunate realities, such as abuse victims or children with separated parents, imagination plays an even more critical role in development as it aids with coping.

The Importance of Imagination

Promoting Imagination

As parents, it is critical to promote imagination through various activities and ideas. Expose children to fantasy worlds through books and television shows. Discuss these ideas together and explore your children's ideas. Don't judge them for the ideas they think of, but rather explore them together and ask questions to promote more thought through imagination. This will help children flesh out and solidify ideas through their imagination, leading to the building blocks of creative thinking.

In today's world, having imagination is more important than ever. Jobs are being filled with people with creative thinking skills that can get things done. News reports are filled with terrible items that can create feelings of fear, despair and hopelessness. Imagination offers not only a release and an escape from the world, but also a new ability to think and create within it. The skills that come about as a result of a working imagination are infinite in number.

When children get scared, it is important to show them compassion and belonging. This can be accomplished through the use of imagination at play. Doll houses, miniature worlds, board games, role-playing games, or even a simple tent in the backyard can promote imagination in small children as they are influenced through the limitless boundaries of the creative world.

Buy children imagination-promoting toys and activities, too. A dollhouse is a great activity for promoting imagination, as the child can design and work with various characters and situations within the dollhouse. Any toy or activity that promotes imagination is a tremendous asset for preparing children for the world and allowing them the space in which to truly and safely grow up.

The Importance of Imagination

Learn more about the fascinating world of miniatures. Visit TheMagicalDollhouse.com today for a great doll house and dollhouse accessories from top miniature companies.

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Using a Brochure to Promote Your Bed & Breakfast

If you own a bed & breakfast, you should consider using a brochure to generate more business. The number of people traveling this year will be slimmer due to increased gas and food prices. Therefore you need to be more aggressive so you can hook those who are traveling. A brochure can capture their attention and help them decide it is the perfect place for them to stay.

You will have to decide if you want to take on the task of creating a brochure on your own. You don't have to be an expert to do a great job. Try out the free demos with various software programs. This way you can use one that is simple to navigate but at the same time very effective.

Creative Writing

If you don't have the time or the desire to do it, you can hire someone. Chances are your local print shops will take on the task. You can also use various online sites to find a freelance writer to do it for you. They are often less expensive but just make sure you find out their credentials. All of the details need to be discussed, confirmed, and put into writing before you exchange any money.

Using a Brochure to Promote Your Bed & Breakfast

There are unlimited options when it comes to making a brochure for your bed & breakfast. The finished work can be very elegant or simple yet polished. Make sure all the details of where the location is and how to contact you for a reservation are on there. If you have a website they can visit give that URL as well. Before you distribute the brochures make sure they are carefully evaluated.

You want them to be printed on quality paper. They can have only two sides or they can be folded with more details on the inside pages. You need to make sure everything is spelled correctly. Grammar is a concern as well so don't overlook it. You don't want materials out there linked to your business that aren't professional looking in every way.

It is a good idea to get some input from happy guests who have stayed at your bed & breakfast as well. Some many be flattered to offer photos of them at your facility or even to write a review you can include. There should be some type of code on your brochures as well. That way people making a reservation can tell it to you. This code will be unique to this form of advertising so you can see how well it is working for you.

Be creative about where you can find display your brochures for the business as well. Try do to so where people commonly travel in your area. Restaurants and convenience stores are a great place to ask about doing so. If you see large displays of brochures then definitely ask if yours can be placed among them.

Offering a brochure is an excellent way to reach more guests. You want those interested in a bed & breakfast to know you exist. You want those who are searching for a hotel to consider staying with you instead. This is just one more way you can be aggressive in getting people to come to the bed & breakfast rather than just hoping your rooms will fill up.

Using a Brochure to Promote Your Bed & Breakfast

Patti Rob writes about the ups and downs of starting and running a Bed and Breakfast. You can avoid the common rookie mistakes and take the B&B Owners Quiz at BedandBreakfastProfits.com

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Newsletter Design Ideas - How to Get Creative Ideas for Your Newsletter Template

If you want to have a successful newsletter, you need to have a professional newsletter design. And the more newsletter design ideas you get, the better layout you can design. Here are some tips on how to find creative design ideas for your newsletter...

#1. Free Newsletter Templates

Creative Writing

You can find many free newsletter templates to download for free on the Internet. Simply search for the word "newsletter templates" in search engine and you will find many websites. You can get inspired by their layout and design for your own newsletter.

Newsletter Design Ideas - How to Get Creative Ideas for Your Newsletter Template

Here's a resource to download professional, free newsletter templates.

#2. Other People's Newsletter Layouts

Thousands of people have already spent a lot of time to create professional templates for their own newsletters. So now there are thousands of good newsletter designs for you to learn from.

You can get inspired by the designs of your favorite newsletters or find more newsletters in ezine directories. Don't copy their designs though - but learn from them.

To find a lot of newsletters in your field, simply go to Google and search for "topic name"+newsletter. For example if you want to start a newsletter about weddings, simply search for "wedding"+newsletter.

This way you can easily find a list of newsletters, so that you can check out their newsletter templates and get ideas from them.

#3. Offline Magazines

You can get great design ideas from some offline magazines. Just look for those kinds of designs that are suitable for online publications too.

Wish you the best of luck on starting your own highly profitable newsletter on the Internet!

Newsletter Design Ideas - How to Get Creative Ideas for Your Newsletter Template

You can get these Free Newsletter Templates to create your own newsletter easily and fast, and save yourself a lot of time.

Also to learn more easy, effective secrets to publishing a successful newsletter, you can check out these Easy Newsletter Ideas.

Ladan Lashkari is the author of this article and is giving away lots of helpful tips and ideas to help you start your own successful newsletter.

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