How to Succeed as a Writer?

As a professional copywriter, I'm often asked by aspiring copywriters what they need to do to succeed. Most of their questions center around writing ability. They want to know how to find out if they have the talent to succeed, or if there's a "test" they can take that will tell them if they're a good enough writer to actually get paid to write.

Well, for better or for worse, writing ability has very little to do with a writer's ultimate success. (Business owners who want to write to promote their business, take note -- I'm talking to you as well.)

If there was a test out there (and there isn't by the way) but if there was, I would say the test would deal only with your attitude about writing and leave ability flat out of it.

Yes, you heard me right. Attitude over ability. That's the key to success.

I know. It's hard to hear. As writers, we want so badly to be told our work is good, that it has merit, that we truly are talented. I'm not sure why so many of us need that exterior validation -- perhaps because writing is such a solitary, inner activity that when we do finally come up for air, we want to make sure we haven't been wasting our time.

But to be honest, it IS possible to become a professional writer, to be paid for your work, and not be terribly talented. (In fact, I'll do you one better. It's even possible to force overworked, exhausted college students in English Lit classes to read your books and not be all that talented. Case in point: Thomas Hardy.)

When I look at professional writers (and I include authors in this category) the common denominator I see isn't writing talent. It isn't even a desire to write -- I know, it's kind of strange, but there's more than a few of those folks out there.

It's a desire to succeed as a writer.

If you're determined to succeed as a writer, and have the will and the mindset to do it, then you'll succeed at it. Period.

Now, that doesn't mean you can skip working hard, honing your craft or, yes, actually putting pen to paper or hands to keyboard and churning out words. You have to be determined enough to do what it takes. To make the necessary sacrifices. To actually do the work. And, to know setbacks will happen and obstacles will appear and learn to take them in stride.

Not everyone is going to like what you've written. I don’t care how good you are. You're going to get some, if not a truckload, of criticism along the way. But, again, that's part of your attitude. You have to be able to take the rejection, the criticism, or the just plain mean comments in stride. You have to pick yourself up and keep going. Because you know in your heart you're on the right path and you won't allow those nasty people derail you.

And that, my friends, is what it takes to be a writer.

Creativity Exercise -- Get the right attitude

People have written books about changing your attitude, so I'm not going to pretend this exercise is the end-all, be-all. But it's a start.

Twice a day, place your hand on your chest and say out loud "I choose to become a successful writer. I have the attitude of a successful writer." This is a declaration, not an affirmation. According to T. Harv Eker, author of "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind," declarations are more powerful than affirmations. Declarations simply declare your intent rather than state your goal is already happening (which is an affirmation.) When you state your goal as if it's already happening, a little voice inside you usually pipes up and says "that's a load of crap" thus making it harder to change your attitude. But if you simply state the intention, then no little voice chimes in to tell you otherwise.

And, when you say it out loud, you're letting your subconscious know, the universe know, and the cells in your body know (because they can feel the energy) what you're intending to do. Placing a hand on your chest allows you to feel that energy. So change happens faster. If you also look in the mirror, you'll accelerate that change even more.

Above all, remember this: Believe and it WILL happen.

About The Author
Michele Pariza Wacek owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting, a writing, marketing and creativity agency. She offers two free e-newsletters that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at http://www.writingusa.com. Copyright 2005 Michele Pariza Wacek

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Revealing Secrets to Book Review Writing

Before commencement of book review writing, you should distinguish between two terms: book report and book review. Many people use these terms in the same breath, however there are vital differences in the very essence of these notions.

Book Review and Book Report – Is There a Difference?

A book report has a factual emphasize. It is a factual account of the subject matter of the book, which implies to be descriptive rather than persuasive and analytical. Its aim is to present the content and the structure of the book as objectively as possible. The book report includes a plot summary; it doesn’t look into deeper meanings of the book and doesn’t contain the identification of the symbolism.

Book report writing is a good way to structure and articulate the thoughts about the book you’ve just read. In a nutshell, it is simply a summary of the contents of the book.

A book review is a critical evaluation of the book that provides a thoughtful and in-depth analysis, and evaluation of the main idea, and purpose of the book. It is also a kind of reaction paper, which analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the book in terms of accepted historical and literary standards, supporting this evaluation with evidences from the text. In a word, it presents the assessment of the quality, meaning, and significance of the book.

What, in fact, sets book reviews apart from book reports is their personal character. Book reviews are highly personal and reflect the opinions of the reviewer on the given literary work. In the book review the reviewer clearly states his position and impressions regarding the book under consideration.

Structure of Book Review

The structure of book reviews resembles other types of academic writing. Book reviews usually comprise of a thesis statement, a supporting body paragraph, and a conclusion.

Typically, reviews are succinct, they rarely exceed 1000 words. Book reviews usually comprises of two elements: descriptive and evaluative. In the descriptive element you provide the essential information about the title, author, type of book, and general subject matters. While in the evaluative element you should present the assessment of the book, particularly of the perceived ideas and implied purposes, quoting exemplary passages from the text.

A good book review is well organized, and as well as the critical assessment and analysis it elucidates the essence of the literary work. Book reviews may vary in tone, style, and subject; however they share the common structure.

• Begin your Book Review with Introduction

Your introduction will bristle with factual and descriptive data, including the name of the author, some relevant details about his life and creative work, the title of the book, and the main theme of the given piece.

The second component of the introduction is the thesis of the book, which may be very perplexing to uncover since stories, novels, and plays don’t explicitly state the argument. Though, you should reveal this special angle and novelty of the piece that will actually become the ground for your further discussion and evaluation and allow you to make your book review original.

The introduction infers to be descriptive; however it should be catchy to seize the attention of the readers. So you should choose an interesting form of presenting your thoughts and ideas to make sure that the readers will keep on reading your book review up to the end. Many writers begin their book reviews with a quip or an anecdote that delivers their argument.

• Keep on Summarizing

Second, you should give your readers a concise summary of the literary work, where you state the author’s purpose of writing the book, provide its leading idea, compare and contrast main characters.

Here your aim is to plunge the readers into the atmosphere of the book, to make them interested in the ideas discussed in this literary piece, and to uncover them your understanding of the symbolism and implicit themes contained in the book. To reach this goal you should articulate your thoughts clearly, logically, and make your argument persuasive and sound.

In the course of making critical assessment of the literary work, you’ll have to back your arguments and assertions with concrete evidences from the text. Remember that critical assessment implies not only to analyze the literary piece under review, but also to tell your readers what struck you the most in this book, whether or not reading it was effective, persuasive, and exciting, and also your discussion on how it enhanced your understanding of the issue at hand.

Your analysis and evaluation should be organized into separate paragraphs that deal with particular aspects of your argument. You don’t necessarily should work chronologically through the book, though, you should make the structure of your summary logical and comprehensive for the readers.

• Draw a logic conclusion

Sum up and restate your thesis or make the final judgment regarding the book in the conclusion. Don’t introduce any new ideas and evidence for your argument, make up your conclusion copious with the ideas that extend the logic of your thesis statement.

Harnessing these simple and winning strategies of book review writing, you’ll surely turn your work into a writing marvel.

About The Author

Linda Correli is a staff writer of http://www.CustomResearchPapers.us/ and an author of the popular online tutorial for students "What Teachers Want: Master the Art of Essay Writing in 10 Days", available at http://www.Go2Essay.com/ Visit Linda’s web log at http://custom-research-papers.blogspot.com/.

linda.correli@customresearchpapers.us

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