No, I’m not calling you a pig. Now that I have your attention, I want to talk with you about finishing your book fast and getting it to market faster. Did you start on your book and lose focus? You would love the rewards of a completed book but wonder where you could fit writing into your schedule.

Don’t be discouraged; let me share some tips that will jumpstart your writing again. Trust me, if it feels like you’ve been stuck in the mud, these tips will pull you out. I call them the habits of highly effective authors. Successful writers set up a system of writing using steps that become habits. Practice the habits below and write your best book now:

1. Do a reality check.

Do you have a plan in place? Don’t set yourself up for failure by not planning. Even if it’s a simple intention goal like “I complete my book (title of book) this year by (date and year.) I educate myself and do what it takes to complete it.” Set one and write it down so you can hit the target.

2. Setup a writing schedule.

Keep it simple. How much time can you devote to your book? Schedule at least 10 hours per week. Snatch an hour here and an hour there, if you must. When my schedule is tight, I write one hour in the wee hours of the morning and one hour late at night. I have to prioritize and so must you if you want to get it done. I must admit since I am an early bird, my early morning writing takes less revision than the late night.

3. Act now.

Too many of us for too long have hid behind the words, “It’s too hard.” Now is the time to take charge of our fears and conquer them. First things first, to overcome procrastination -the fear of failure- is to act now. Most times the bottom line of procrastination is fear of failure. Setup your writing schedule and begin today. Or choose to sign-up for an easy 7 lesson ecourse “Jumpstart Writing Your Best Book Now. “ Send any email to iscribe@writetowin.org Remember, action will destroy fear. Each successful step of your system will deal a death blow to fear.

4. Avoid marathon writing.

Have you ever thought, “I have to get away from everything to write a successful book?” No you don’t. I know several novelist and non-fiction book writers who had to write during a long commute to get their best book written and out to the world. They accomplished it because they systematically worked on their book until it was done. In the midst of your busy life, designate your time to write (work on your book) with a goal to completion. (Reasonable time to completion)

5. Use the tracking approach.

I can’t keep up with where I am after interruptions of life. It is a common challenge to find your place after being interrupted with family, work and daily life. After all that’s why many think you must get away to get it done effectively. Yet, there’s hope for those who can’t get away or choose not to. Successful writers all over the world use the tracking approach. They succeed because they commit to doing a little each day.

There are 2 methods you could use for your tracking. Time is the method where you commit to a writing a certain amount of time each day. With the cumulative factor involved your commitment doesn’t have to be that much. For example, to accomplish my book writing goals I commit to writing one hour a day in my most productive time. For me it is right after my meditation and reading time. With this method don’t be overly concerned about how much you write, just keep the time commitment.

The other method is focused on output. Commit to writing a certain number of words or pages a day, perhaps 750-1,000 words or approximately three and a half pages double-spaced text. The key factor is to stick to it until completion.

6. Don’t become chained to writing in order.

Jump around and fill in the blanks. Review your chapters and whatever subject or topic you most drawn to, begin there. Many inexperienced writers feel they have to complete each chapter in order.

It’s called linear writing (writing each chapter in order.) You don’t have to write each chapter one after the other. If you happen to get stuck on chapter two, you could be stuck a very long time. I think this type of thinking comes from grade school where we are ritually taught to do everything in order.

If you have been thinking that way stop right now, no need to raise your hand. You have my permission to work on whatever chapter moves you or you feel passion bubbling for at the moment. Feeling stuck on a chapter, try another. There you have it now go with the flow.

7. Maintain your momentum keep your writing commitments.

Do your ever feel like I am stuck. I have to stop writing until I feel it again. Don’t worry many of us have felt that way. From what I said earlier you may have gotten the impression that you just write when you feel like it and quit when you don’t. If so, no that’s not what I meant.

Unseasoned writers may play the martyr and push through just to put something on paper or give up and try again another day. We would never get it done like that. When you get stuck simply close that chapter and pull out your chapter outline and choose another chapter.

8. Successful authors rewrite and organize their ideas for the most impact.

New authors tell me all the time, “I just write whatever comes to my head and there’s no need to re-write. My editor will handle all that.”

My response is always the same: It’s o.k. to free write when you are working on your first draft. The idea is go get the thoughts out of your head onto paper. For no one can express it quite like you. Oh sure, there are some better or worse writers but not exactly like you.

In fact, my advice is to avoid re-writing during your first draft. Concentrate on finishing each chapter then use your tracking time to self-edit: Check your ideas for flow, grammar, spelling, and chapter endings. Work on your chapter titles and lead in introductions.

I know this may not feel good to some but its smacks of plain ole laziness if you don’t work on making your copy the best it can be. Don’t leave all the dirty work for your editor unless you really can’t do any better.

9. Learn to delegate and share faster and faster.

Don’t succumb to the feeling that you have to do it all yourself. As writers, we can get pretty isolated in our thinking if we’re not careful. Do your research and reading time apart from your writing sessions. You may be able to ask your spouse, a teen-aged son or daughter, a friend to help with your research.

Know when to let go of your chapters and book. Don’t self-edit and pick your book apart word by word. Learn to use your skills at the highest level possible. Some of the mechanical tasks of proofreading ask a family member, part-time employee or again a friend to help. After you have done the best job you can with your manuscript, don’t be afraid to pass it to a professional. Learn to delegate faster and faster.

10. Value your time. Learn how to do it easier and faster.

I don’t know anything about computers so pecking my book out would probably take forever. Don’t run from technology. At least take the time to learn about the shortcuts in your current software. Welcome to the new millennium! Embrace technology make your software work efficiently for you. You can sign-up for a basic computer course. Get a book to learn the short-cuts. Not ready to invest, look for some free tutorials online.

Even so, nothing can happen until that first draft is completed. Procrastination is ultimately based on fear of failure. It has stopped countless of book projects and stolen the vision of many more. Don’t allow procrastination to become a giant towering over your book dreams.

Then there are others who are not afraid but simply get bogged down with lack of focus and a plan. Develop the habits outlined above and you’ll be surprised at what you accomplish. Write your best book now and bring it to market faster!

© Earma Brown, 11 year author and business owner helps small business owners and writers who want to write their best book now! Author of “Write Your Best Book Now”, she mentors other writers and business professionals through her monthly ezine “iScribe” Subscribe now at iscribe@writetowin.org for FREE mini-course 'Jumpstart Writing Your Best Book' or visit http://www.writetowin.org

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Earma_Brown

After cracking hundreds of screenplays sent into the BlueCat Screenplay Competition, the same problems in the execution of the story and script continue to emerge. Here is a general overview of these persistent issues.

Do you realize what you're saying??

In the theatre, they read plays aloud over and over in the process of script development, and one of the reasons they do this is to hear the dialogue. When I hear dialogue in my head, it might sound very good, but then when I hear a person actually speak it, I often have an impulse to jump in front of a bus. And over and over and over and over, when I read screenplay entries to BlueCat, I am immediately dismayed when the characters start speaking. Excellent everything else, awful dialogue. And I often wonder if the writer has actually heard the lines they have written for their characters out loud. Either read the whole thing aloud to yourself, or even better, get a group of your friends to read it. You do not need professional actors to evaluate dialogue. Just people excited to help. Videotape it. I have videotaped readings, and then sat down and worked out an entire rewrite off the tape, addressing every single line that bothered me. Which leads me to another thing.

Ha.

It's hard to pass a screenplay on to industry contacts if an unfunny joke is sitting in the middle of page two. It’s highly difficult if there’s twelve by page five. You might have a payoff in your third act that would break my heart, but if your jokes are poor, the heart of your audience will be shot, probably resentful, and your work will be recycled. Please try your humor out. If your beats aren’t funny to some people, rewrite. Trust a truly hilarious bit is coming. Think of the patience you need to muster through this writing process as courage, because it is. If you find you are not funny, write a script that is not funny. Many, many great scripts are not funny, as we all know.

Mispellings.

Do you think the development people in Los Angeles, basically the smartest people in the film industry, will not be annoyed and continue to read your script when you have misspelled three words in the first five pages? Perhaps. How do you feel when you're reading something and you find misspelled words? How does your attitude shift towards the author? Exactly. If you don't think many scripts have this problem, start a screenwriting competition.

OKAY, WE GOT IT!

Try to limit your scene description. When a person opens your script, how many INCHES of action slug are they looking at on page one? Is there anyway you can convey what you want us to SEE with less words? I always go back and CUT CUT CUT to prevent my screenplay from fatiguing my reader with excess words as they try to listen for my story. Do we need to know what necklace someone is wearing? We all understand making motion pictures is collaborative. I strive to let the art department and the costumer and the prop master and so on DO THEIR JOB by not making their decisions in the screenplay, because I have little passion for it and don’t do it well. They will make their own choices, and most likely better ones, so why bother? Always use fewer words to say the same thing.

It's not show and tell, it's show not tell.

I constantly find myself being told something by the screenplay the viewer of the film will not be aware of. Screenplays are not literature. They are words assembled to describe what motion pictures will play out on the screen. Telling us a character is a jealous person is passive and dull. Showing a character in an act of jealousy is more effective and essentially cinematic. Let the words and actions of your characters carry your story. This is not easy. You want the actor or director to understand what you want and what you mean. Allow the description of physical actions and the recording of spoken words reveal the narrative to the filmmakers. The script will read faster and offers the reader a richer opportunity to imagine and discover.

The Joy of Making Things Up.

I really cherish the idea, that as a writer, I can make things up. If I want the guy to say something, all I have to do is type it. But I have to fight against creating characters and interactions amongst characters derived from movies I have watched and television I have seen. I often find myself writing a scene only to realize I'm not drawing from my imagination or my own life experience or my observations of people, I'm drawing from the millions of hours of observing actors play human beings on television and in movie theaters. And because I’m writing a “MOVIE,” it is even more difficult, because I’m fighting against a subconscious or unconscious observation that this is "how people act in movies." Stop yourself and ask, would this happen on planet Earth? Do I know how people from Miami really speak? What would a person actually say if they had a gun in their face? Can you possibly imagine what could happen? This is your opportunity to be truly imaginative. Answer your own expectations of original work. A mature writer develops a strong capacity to recognize and reject the false.

Ouch.

Forced exposition. This is when a brother tells a sister on page two that he will be attending a school which dad wouldn't pay for because he bought a farm that the whole family will be moving to tomorrow because he found that the city was a really bad place to live in after mom was really scared because of that mugging thing that happened after they came back from the sister's graduation from high school. When characters engage in an unbelievable conversation about matters in which they would be familiar with, or when they proclaim something completely out of nowhere simply to inform the audience of key facts crucial to their understanding of the movie, you have a problem. This awkward exposition will not be seen as genuine human behavior and will detach your audience from the emotional current of your story. Exposition is necessary and difficult to execute. Be careful how you offer information crucial to your story at the start of your screenplay. This is a common problem in early drafts. Exposition needs to be seamless and graceful.

Format.

You know what? Go get a script and copy what you think it looks like and you'll be fine. Trust me. Spec scripts are sitting on desks all over Hollywood and their format is not consistent at all. Getting crazy about format sells screenwriting software. I use two tab settings and copied stuff from a book and not one person in the film industry has ever said a thing to me in ten years. But if your script looks like a book, or a poem, or a magazine article, your screenplay format is wrong. Just make it look a little like a movie script, and if it kicks ass, guess what.

So do you.

Article URL address: http://www.bluecatscreenplay.com/About/advice.php

Copyright © 2006 BlueCat Screenplay Competition

About the Author Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival for LOVE LIZA, Gordy Hoffman has written and directed three digital shorts for Fox Searchlight. He made his feature directorial debut with his script, A COAT OF SNOW, which world premiered at the 2005 Locarno International Film Festival. He is also the founder of the BlueCat Screenplay Competition. Dedicated to develop and celebrate the undiscovered screenwriter, BlueCat provides written screenplay analysis on every script entered. In addition, Gordy acts as a script consultant for screenwriters, offering personalized feedback on their scripts through his consultation service, http://www.screenplaynotes.com For more articles by Gordy on screenwriting, visit http://www.bluecatscreenplay.com

Some may call this voyeurism – I call it research! If a scene requires your character to be inside a house, but you can’t quite imagine it, go to any realtor's web site and take a virtual tour.

Just about every realtor and realty company has a site that offers virtual tours inside houses that are for sale. After you go to the site, you can input your search criteria. Single family, Condo, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, whatever you need, you can find it there. Price range is important, too. Whether your character is inside a new, luxury home or an older home, you can find it.

These tours take you inside the kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom and backyard. This provides you with an all access pass to creating a scene filled with rich detail. It's also great for decorating tips!

So if you’re stumped on describing the inside or outside of a house, be stumped no more!

If you have a tip you'd like to share in the newsletter, please e-mail me: Sandy@CoolStuff4Writers.com

My soulmate,

I miss you intensely. My colours have faded from brilliant to grey while you are away. My soul cries for those long chats that last throughout the dark nights. It yearns for the glimpse of light you bring into my life. And it has only been sixteen days and four hours since you went.

Only eighteen days, two hours left before I can throw my arms round your neck, feel the heat of your kisses. I have a present for you when you get back home. It is red, silky and full of me.

Your sexy loving wife.

Sue Hulley is a single mom in Margate South Africa. She enjoys reading, gardening, painting glass bottles and writing for many online writers forums.

In parting, I want to say - Spring is a time for renewal and yes, cleaning! Have you started a new book? Have you cleaned up a current one and prepared it for submission? Are you sticking to your plans and goals for 2006?

We recently cleaned out the office and it really made a difference. All that clutter is gone and has cast a new sense of renewal and hope. I feel lighter and more inspired to write. When you have clutter around you, it can subconsciously block you from moving forward. So clean up your writing space and/or start cleaning up that manuscript and get it out the door to an agent or editor. Welcome this renewal period and allow your prose to blossom and grow. Show the world your vibrant colors! I've started a new book and entered a contest. My critique partner gave the first chapter a big "green" thumbs up, so this has encouraged me to keep going and to look forward to a productive 2006.

I wish you the best with your writing and hope the Spring brings you a renewal of hope and keeps you reaching for your 2006 goals.

email: sandy@coolstuff4writers.com

phone: 732-364-3993

web: http://www.coolstuff4writers.com