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Understanding The First Rule Of Writing—Before You Start The Great BestsellerChaos and confusion come when established rules and procedures are not followed. Even mixing and matching systems to favor one's own position can cause a great deal of consternation. In writing a book, the first rule is to know and understand why you want to write in the first place.In other words, you need to develop a theme that will answer the question of why you want to write. I usually get a blank stare when I ask a budding author, “What is your book's theme?” Eventually the answer I get may be the title of a manuscript. When I explain that a title isn't a theme, I then may hear, “It's the story of my life.” That is unquestionably the number-one answer I get. There is a big difference between the title of your book and your theme. While your title may be the sizzle, the theme is the flavor and is formally defined as a “recurring, unifying subject or idea.” This is the aim or the main message of your book. Generally speaking, in writing there are two themes: the author's theme and the book's theme. The author's theme is the usual subject matter the writer handles, or the one the writer is most comfortable with. For example, a writer may find his forte in the subject matter of healing or forgiveness. Another may write most of the time in the area of spirituality or motivation. Don't confuse the author's theme with genre, which is the category of writing. In addition to establishing if you are writing fiction or non-fiction, there are several categories your book may fall into. Some of the most popular ones today are biography, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, thriller/espionage, horror, inspirational, historical, and courtroom drama. Your book's theme is what the reader should learn most after reading your story. There are two answers that you as a writer shouldn't give when questioned about your theme: 1) This book is about me and the things that have happened to me; and 2) A rambling, almost incoherent dissertation that leaves one asking, “Huh?” Every author should ask and answer the following questions: “Why am I writing? What am I trying to articulate? What kind of outcome will the story have on the reader and what is the outcome I'm aiming for?” In other words, what is the rationale behind your book? For example in his bestseller, The Purpose-Driven® Life(Zondervan), author Rick Warren, founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, takes readers on a “personal 40-day spiritual journey” to find the answer to the question, “What on earth am I here for?” To me, the most important element of your book is its theme. Writing professors will probably disagree with me, and that is their right. In fact, some say the title is the most important. I understand, because all of this is subjective and mostly based upon personal preference. After all, there are many elements to creating a successful manuscript. But after years of trying to get would-be writers to complete their novels, short stories or even church talks, I've discovered that nothing has helped to move them “off the pot” quicker than having a well-developed theme. About the author: Marvin D. Cloud is founder of mybestseller.com and author of "Get Off The Pot: How to Stop Procrastinating and Write Your Personal Bestseller in 90 Days." Visit http.//www.mybestseller.com and grab a free copy of the "Get Off The Pot" newsletter, dedicated to motivating ordinary people to write, publish and sell their books faster, efficient, and more cost-effective. Circulated by Article Emporium Your Book Not in Book Stores? Don't Worry Sure, we all want to look on the shelves at Barnes and Noble and see our books there. It's thrilling. But it's really not necessary. I see so many authors waste their time and money paying distributors and driving from store to store, delivering books when they should be selling di... The Published Novelist: Nine Essential Qualities So what does it actually take to make it as a selling writer? And beyond that, what does it take to ride out the tough spots in a highly competitive field? These are questions I get asked on a regular basis from readers, as well as people who are just plain curious about ... Book Proposals 101.: What Publishers Want Lots of writers like to talk about writing books. You hear very few talking about writing book proposals. Maybe that's why it's easy to forget that a strong book proposal is the first step to getting a great deal for your non-fiction book. It's where you make the big pitch and tell... Avoid Crafty Traps in Essay Writing Hidden pitfalls are on watch for your paper success in every paragraph of the essay you write. They are notorious misprints, insidious misspellings and numerous stylistic, syntax and format errors. Indeed they are your restless essay writing enemies, which are always on the alert, ... Journaling Your Book To Completion On any given day, how many people, events, problems, projects, family issues, things to remember and appointments are running through your mind? A LOT, right? If you're writing a book, you have to add on top of that a whole other world of characters, events, settings, plots, (if yo... Publish or Perish: It's Not Only for Academia, Part 1 I am the daughter of an obsessed writer. My father, a math teacher by vocation, a writer by avocation, brought me up believing that writing is a fine passion and that the highlight of a writer's life is being published. He gave me his love of the English language, great literature ... Do You Know What A Plot Is? What a plot is and what a story is can be sometimes confusing. If you think they are the same¡K They are not. A plot is the outline of your story. The story is everything included. I will illustrate the difference by asking you to visualize two pictures¡K <... Pairs/Groups Of Words Often Confused - Part 4 of 6 LATER, LATTER Later means afterwards; latter is the second of two things. "Later that day we went for a walk." "We have two choices. The latter is the more reliable, but the former would be cheaper." LAY, L... You Can Write Poetry Today Have you ever sat there staring at the paper, ready to write, but unsure where to begin? Want a solution that will overcome even the worst writer's block? Anyone can start writing poetry today using a few simple techniques. One, two, ...? Did you say or think thr... The U.S. Prison System The U.S. Prison System By Kenneth J. McCormick Http://aboutfacts.net The U.S. in now in the position of having the largest prison population in the world. How can this be, when we are not the most populous country? Well there could be many reasons for this... Top Ten Tips (Part 2) Golden Rules For New Writers - Things you need to know before you begin. Rules govern everything we do in life; even if those rules are of the unwritten kind we abide by them and expect other people to do the same. Why should writing be any different? I... Writing Tips - Is The Conflict Able To Be Resolved? Now that you¡¦ve made the conflict so bad it can¡¦t be resolved easily, you¡¦ll have to make sure it can be resolved ultimately. So what you need is a way out. When you can¡¦t find a way out, what you do is keep on making things harder for your character until y... Re-fresh, Re-hash, Re-write word count: 410 You are running out of ideas, you sit down in front of your computer and stare at the blank screen with a blank mind. Your fingers are idly waiting for some action. Writer's block? Perhaps. You must have an “Id... The Unexplained The Unexplained By Kenneth J. McCormick http://aboutfacts.net Life if full of unexplained things. It makes you wonder how so many things can be a mystery? Are we just not intelligent enough as a race to understand everything, or is it that we just haven't... Understanding The First Rule Of Writing—Before You Start The Great Bestseller Chaos and confusion come when established rules and procedures are not followed. Even mixing and matching systems to favor one's own position can cause a great deal of consternation. In writing a book, the first rule is to know and understand why you want to write in the first plac...
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