All types of business owners face the challenge of optimizing their strengths. A Baker who wants to own a bakery may spend his days managing employees, balancing the books or meeting with suppliers.  A shopping enthusiast who owns a store, may find themselves receiving shipments or planning seasonal inventories.  If you are a baker, shopper or writer, your job should be baking, shopping or writing. 

As a freelance writer, you have to market yourself and your writing to succeed.

Internet marketing is a labor and time intensive endeavor.  One way to begin is to write articles. You can submit your articles to online directories or create a blog in which you publish consistently.  There are several sites which will host a blog for free, such as: Peoplefuel, Word press or Blogster, or sites where you can publish individual articles, such as: Hubpages, Squidoo or Peoplefuel.  You can also create your own blog for a nominal sum, just the cost of a domain name (~$10 a year) and hosting (~100 a year). 

I decided to start my own blog and here are a few lessons I’ve learned along the way:

1.  If you write it - - - they probably won’t come.  Writing articles isn’t enough to ensure anyone will actually see them. You have to understand the way search engines rank sites for search results. Then you have to spend considerable effort and energy to get ranked for relevant search terms.

2. Ranking is a full time job. Writing the article and posting it to your blog is just the tip of the iceberg.  What you don’t see are the external links which link back to a specific article so it will rank higher in the search engine results.  Google will rank your site according to releavancy (criteria includes: site’s name, article title and content) and authority (number of links incoming to your site for a key word or phrase). 

3. Key word research = 2+2.  As a writer, you’re probably right brain-centric, creative and spontaneous.  Key word research requires left brain thinking because it’s a numbers game.  Assuming you have a key phrase in mind, determine the number of searches a month for a specific key phrase * position in search results (1^st place receives ~60% of the traffic, 2^nd place ~15% with steady decline thereafter.)

Here’s an example -

You have a great new book that you want to promote so you choose the Key Word Phrase “GREAT NEW BOOK”

Google indicates there are 210 searches for this term a month. 

210 *.60 (assuming you’re in first place) = 126 searches per month.  However there are 113,000 sites which reference that key phrase.  Google returns only the top 820.  The work required to achieve the number one spot with that amount of competition would be staggering, for very little return. 

This is where the research comes in. You want to find a phrase that will attract sufficient visitors with relatively little competition.  You will probably go through several candidates before you find one that’s suitable. 

4.  Networking is still work - Blogs can fail or succeed based on the network you build. There are dozens of forums dedicated to writers.  If you haven’t already joined one or ten, do so. You’ll benefit from the experience of others and form life long friendships. 

I believe in writers helping writers. I’ve decided to accept submissions from writers who would like to promote themselves or their work and since I’m doing all the behind the scenes labor, you can do what you do best - WRITE!  

If you’re interested, email me at fictionway@live.com or see the FEATURED WRITERS page for details.

I have a hard time coming up with my list of favorite books, because I really do love books: new books, old books, funny books, horror books, mystery books, fiction books, inspirational books, kids’ books.  I search for writers who speak to me and when I find one, I read their every word.  I listen and long for more.

My favorite books are those that leave a lingering impression. Sometimes the story’s premise is so intriguing it takes days or weeks to get my mind around it. That’s the way I felt after reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman or The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

Other times the characters stay with me. They are old friends and the memory of our time spent together is bitter sweet in that it had to end.  Stephen King is most remarkable in his ability to develop sympathetic, flawed, yet extraordinary characters.  And, no pun intended, many of his characters have haunted me for years.  Bobbi Anderson and her friend Gardener, an alcoholic poet who tried to save her from obsession in The Tommyknockers or Mike Noonan, the lonely novelist who finds love a second time in Bag of Bones.  I stare in gaped jaw amazement at those who complain that King’s novels are too long - I think they end too soon.  I can’t stop myself from racing to the finish, even though I dread that final page, when I know I’ll have to say goodbye to my new companions.

I also enjoy non-fiction; inspirational or historical, memoirs or true crime.  A few books have literally changed my life; such as Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch or Seven Habits for Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.  These books came to me at different times in my life, but when they came to me I was ready to receive them.  Conversations with God can be a little jarring at first, but when the implication of the book sank in, I was empowered to have my own conversation with God.

With that all said, here are few of my favorite books -

10.  The Book of Secrets by Deepak Chopra - The Secret was a huge international best seller, but I was hugely disappointed in the book. It was all rhetoric, no evidence.  Chopra’s philosophy is one of personal responsibility and empowerment, but he offers scientific reasoning for his theories.  I can’t tell you if it’s true or not, but it was certainly more convincing than a panel of “experts” offering sound bites.  This isn’t easy enlightenment.

9.  Lightning by Dean Koontz - This was the first book I read by Dean Koontz and I’ve been a fan of his work since, with the exception of The Vision and I swore I’d never read another one of his books.  Fortunately for me, I didn’t keep that promise or I would have missed out on his later works, full of sarcastic wit and charm.  Lightening is at its heart, a romance, with a substantial bit of mystery, a smidgen of the supernatural and an unexpected twist.

8.  A Time to Kill by John Grisham - This was Grisham’s debut novel and sets the basis of much of his future works.  A young Southern lawyer takes a seemingly hopeless case, defending Carl Lee Hailey.  Hailey is a black man accused of killing two men who raped his daughter. Forty four years after the publication of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Grisham spotlights lingering racism and ignorance. The Chamber was brilliant as well.

7. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - Adams’ humor is out of this world.  This book is just fun, silly and unexpected.  Arthur Dent is an ordinary man who embarks on an extraordinary adventure - thankfully he has his towel. The Earth is destroyed, the President of the Galaxy has high jacked a spaceship and the girl of his dreams is just out of arm’s reach.

6. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - This children’s book is rich and imaginative, full of adventure, danger, hope and magic.   When my kids were younger we would read books together, and this was a particular favorite. The idea of stories, places and characters living in an alternative reality is enthralling.  Stephen King offered a similar theme in the Dark Tower series, when the fictional world bled into the “real” world, but Inkheart was the first time I had seen it done and I was hooked.

5.  The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold -  Told from the perspective of a teenage murder victim who observes the family and friends she left behind. Her murder isn’t the central plot, left unsolved for years after her death. Instead, this is a story about grief and healing, holding on and letting go.  Absolutely haunting.

4.  Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom - Mitch Albom recounts the last days spent with his ex professor and mentor, Morrie Schwartz.  It is a simple story and lesson about appreciating life, slowing down and focusing on the things that truly matter.  Even in his final days, Morrie never stopped teaching and has left a wonderful legacy.

3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman - An extraordinarily imaginative book that explores the possibility that Gods, discarded and forgotten, live among us waiting to return to their former glory.  Most lament the unfairness of being cast aside by fickle mortals, reduced to working odd jobs and bickering amongst themselves.

2.  The Stand by Stephen King - I could fill a page with my favorite books by Stephen King, but have settled on just one for this list.  The Stand still was frightening in the possibility it could actually happen (unlike a haunted car) and hopeful that good can indeed overcome evil.

1.  The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - The most romantic and heartbreaking story I’ve ever read.  The story is told with grace and clarity, despite the complexity of criss-crossing time lines and shifting points of view.

I would also recommend anything by Jonathan Kellerman, Michael Connelly, Stuart Woods, Tami Hoag, Wayne Dyer, Scott Westerfeld and a hundred others.

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“The soul knows all things, and knowledge is only a remembering.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Far down in the silent depths of sub consciousness lie myriads of truths, each awaiting a time when its owner shall call it forth. To utilize these stored-up thoughts, you must express them to others; and to be able to express them well your soul has to soar into this subconscious realm where you have cached these net results of experience. In other words, you must “come out”–get out of self–away from self-consciousness, into the region of partial oblivion–away from the boundaries of time and the limitations of space.

The great painter forgets all in the presence of his canvas; the writer is oblivious to his surroundings; the singer floats away on the wings of melody (and carries the audience with her); the orator pours out his soul for an hour, and it seems to him as if barely five minutes had passed, so rapt is he in his exalted theme. When you reach the heights of sublimity and are expressing your highest and best, you are in a partial trance condition. And all men who enter this condition surprise themselves by the quantity of knowledge and the extent of insight they possess.

The mind is a dual affair–objective and subjective. The objective mind sees all, hears all, reasons things out. The subjective mind stores up and only gives out when the objective mind sleeps. And as few men ever cultivate the absorbed, reflective or semi-trance state, where the objective mind rests, they never really call on their subconscious treasury for its stores. They are always self-conscious.

“You sing well,” said the master, impatiently, to his best pupil, “but you will never sing divinely until you have given your all for love, and then been neglected and rejected, and scorned and beaten, and left for dead. Then, if you do not exactly die, you will come back, and when the world hears your voice it will mistake you for an angel and fall at your feet.”

As long as you are satisfied and comfortable, you use only the objective mind and live in the world of sense. But let love be torn from your grasp and flee as a shadow–living only as a memory in a haunting sense of loss; let death come and the sky shut down over less worth in the world; or stupid misunderstanding and crushing defeat grind you into the dust, then you may arise, forgetting time and space and self.

Don’t wait for your life to be perfect to write.   Write when it is difficult and you will find your true talent.

A detective story is a type of mystery which has a character, whether a professional investigator or amateur, who solves a mystery. When you decide to write a detective story, consider the setting, character, the mystery (conflict), clues which will lead to a satisfying climax and conclusion.  I think detective stories, more than any other genre, benefit from outlining to ensure all these elements are present.

Setting - Select a time period and place in which you have sufficient knowledge to insure authenticity.  If your story is set in modern times, you will need to consider how the internet has changed the way private investigators work.  There are a number of sleuthing sites which can be incorporated into your story - especially if your investigator is an amateur detective.  Once you’ve determined the time period, select a primary setting, such as a city, a school, a hospital, a ship or an old house.

Character - Now that you know where and when the story takes place, develop characters with the appropriate traits for their environment, including: social attitudes, education, occupation, gender or religion.  If your protagonist is female and your story is set in 19^th century Europe, she’ll be constrained by her social status.  Your detective can be of any age, occupation, gender or even an animal, as demonstrated by the cat detectives Koko and Yum-Yum, created by Lilian Jackson Braun.

Conflict - Every detective needs a crime to solve - whether a murder or the theft of the church’s bake sale proceeds.   Whatever the mystery, it needs to be outlined and explained, step-by-step in sequence.  There should be clues scattered throughout that will give your reader an opportunity to solve the crime with your detective.  This can be incredibly tricky, because you don’t want your reader to solve the crime before your detective.  CK Chesterton observed “The detective story differs from every other story in this: that the reader is only happy if he feels a fool… It is largely a matter of the order in which things are mentioned, rather than of the nature of the things themselves. The essence of a mystery tale is that we are suddenly confronted with a truth which we have never suspected and yet can see to be true.”

Every crime is based on:

Motive - The reason the crime occurred

Method - The way in which the crime was perpetuated

Opportunity - Who was nearby and could have committed the crime.

Climax - A moment or event which should contain an element of surprise and a sense of danger or risk. The climax is the a’ha moment, the mystery is solved, all the suspects, but one, have been eliminated.  It’s not yet known if the outcome is positive (the bad guy is caught) or negative (the bad guy gets away) which will create tension.

Conclusion - In the end, all the questions must be answered.  Secrets are revealed and loose ends are wrapped up.  You might do this with wordy confession or your detective can articulate the what, who, when, where, how and why.

I find detective stories appealing because they provide a glimpse behind the mask people wear. Sometimes I’m appalled by what I find, but other times my suspicions are confirmed.  A character is revealed, but they cannot be connected with the crime until there is psychological reconciliation and then the truth can’t be ignored.

“The inconsistencies of human nature are indeed terrible and heart-shaking things, to be named with the same note of crisis as the hour of death and the Day of Judgment. They are not all fine shades, but some of them very fearful shadows, made by the primal contrast of darkness and light. Both the crimes and the confessions can be as catastrophic as lightning. Indeed, The Ideal Detective Story might do some good if it brought men back to understand that the world is not all curves, but that there are some things that are as jagged as the lightning-flash or as straight as the sword.”

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Court records, jail records, corporate records, and more.

1. Free Public Records Finder: Search free public records by state, view corporate records, court records, criminal records and more on this site.
2. Net-Investigation.com: Search by state to look up court records on almost anyone. This site also provides a background check crash course and tutorials for how to find the most relevant information.
3. Public Record Finder:  Finds free public records using the largest public records search database on the World Wide Web.
4. Public Record Directory: Finds free public vital and cell phone records using the largest public records reverse search detective database on the World Wide Web.
5. Dates and Love: Run a background check, reverse cell phone number lookup, employee screening or people search on this site for free.

Criminal Background Checks

1. Detective Unlimited: This site connects users to a free version of the Intelius service. Results bring up addresses, lawsuits, sex offender information, property ownership, relatives, neighbors, marriage records and more.
2. Public Records Information: Search by state and county on this site and get links to investigation records, judicial organizations, sex offender registries and more.
3. Prison Inmate Search - Search for a prison inmate, prison records, offender records and sexual predators at Federal Prisons, State Prisons and County Jails

Sex Offender Sites

1. National Sex Offender Registry: The family watchdog on this site directs users to a search by location or search by name.
2. FBI Crimes Against Children: Click on a state to conduct a sex offender search from the FBI’s website.
3. MapSexOffenders.com: There are over 300,000 sex offenders listed in this database. You can view maps of the offenders and search by name.
4. National Sex Offender Public Registry: On this site, you can type in a name, zip code, county or city to perform your search. Results include a photo, names and aliases used by the offender, registration information and address.
5. Free Sex Offenders Search: Perform a sex offender lookup by state and get public access to criminal records and jail records.
6. SexOffender.com Database Search: Look up sex offenders and anyone who has a history or record of violent behavior towards children.
7. US-Sex-Offenders.com: This site can search information and addresses for sex offenders in 27 different U.S. states.

Contact Information

Verify addresses and other contact information

1. White Pages: Online People Search destination, with more than 180 million people searchable in our databases.
2. Free Address Lookup: Browse by state or just type in a name to find out where someone lives in the U.S.
3. The Search Advisor: Search the U.S. database on this site to find missing people, do a quick address verification or find your birth family.
4. Addresses.com: This website offers a White Pages search, Yellow Pages search, cell phone caller ID and e-mail lookup.
5. AnyWho: To find a person or a business through this site, you need to type in their land line phone number.
6. MelissaDATA: You can verify and look up addresses on this website, which prompts you to type in a street address, zip code or city.
7. PhoneNumber.com: Conduct a people search or business search on this site, where you can find and verify addresses and phone numbers.
8. Superpages.com: Look up addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses on Superpages.com.
9. 411.com: At 411.com, search the white pages or yellow pages, do a reverse phone number check, reverse address check, look up an area or zip code and more.
10. Driver’s License Search: Find court records and driving records by looking up your applicant’s driver’s license here.

People Searches

1. Zaba Search: This free people search and public information search engine features search options by name, phone number or social security number.
2. Free Public Records Directory: Find death records, court records, marriage and divorce records and a lot more on this “absolutely free” site.
3. Yahoo! People Search: Conduct a U.S. phone and address search, reverse phone number check or e-mail search here.
4. Bigfoot: Find individuals or businesses through this site, which can reveal e-mail addresses, phone numbers, addresses and more.
5. Peek You: Peek You is “the smartest way to find people online.” You can find out if someone has any risque pictures or information on their online profiles, on any site.
6. pipl: Brings up social networking profiles, public records, mentions on blogs and the Web

I do not claim that I can tell a story as it ought to be told. I only claim to know how a story ought to be told, for I have been almost daily in the company of the most expert story-tellers for many years.

There are several kinds of stories, but only one difficult kind—the humorous. I will talk mainly about that one. The humorous story is American, the comic story is English, the witty story is French. The humorous story depends for its effect upon the manner of the telling; the comic story and the witty story upon the matter.

The humorous story may be spun out to great length, and may wander around as much as it pleases, and arrive nowhere in particular; but the comic and witty stories must be brief and end with a point. The humorous story bubbles gently along, the others burst.

The humorous story is strictly a work of art–high and delicate art –and only an artist can tell it; but no art is necessary in telling the comic and the witty story; anybody can do it. The art of telling a humorous story–understand, I mean by word of mouth, not print—was created in America, and has remained at home.

The humorous story is told gravely; the teller does his best to conceal the fact that he even dimly suspects that there is anything funny about it; but the teller of the comic story tells you beforehand that it is one of the funniest things he has ever heard, then tells it with eager delight, and is the first person to laugh when he gets through. And sometimes, if he has had good success, he is so glad and happy that he will repeat the “nub” of it and glance around from face to face, collecting applause, and then repeat it again. It is a pathetic thing to see.

Very often, of course, the rambling and disjointed humorous story finishes with a nub, point, snapper, or whatever you like to call it.  Then the listener must be alert, for in many cases the teller will divert attention from that nub by dropping it in a carefully casual and indifferent way, with the pretence that he does not know it is a nub.

Artemus Ward used that trick a good deal; then when the belated audience presently caught the joke he would look up with innocent surprise, as if wondering what they had found to laugh at. Dan Setchell used it before him, Nye and Riley and others use it to-day.

But the teller of the comic story does not slur the nub; he shouts it at you–every time. And when he prints it, in England, France, Germany, and Italy, he italicizes it, puts some whooping exclamation-points after it, and sometimes explains it in a parenthesis. All of which is very depressing, and makes one want to renounce joking and lead a better life.

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“You’ve got to love libraries. You’ve got to love books. You’ve got to love poetry. You’ve got to love everything about literature. Then, you can pick the one thing you love most and write about it.”  ~ Ray Bradbury

Attention Starving Writers  - by now you know that you can’t write if you don’t read, so if you’re on a book buying budget consider these sites for free unabridged books online. Book options include fiction, nonfiction, verse, classic works and reference books.

Bartleby - Bartleby has one of the best collections of literature, verse and reference books that can be accessed online for no charge.

Bookstacks - This site has nearly 100 free books from 36 different authors. The books can be read online or downloaded as a PDF.

Bored.com - Read thousands of classic books and other ebooks online or transfer files to your computer. Special topics include music, games, cooking, science and travel.

Classic Book Library - A free online library containing historical fiction, romance, mysteries, science fiction and children’s literature.

Classic Bookshelf - Electronic library of classic books with a special Java eBook reading program for easy viewing.

Classic Reader - An expanding collection of classic fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children’s stories and plays–more than 4,000 works by hundreds of authors.

Ebook Lobby - Hundreds of free ebooks in categories that range from business and art to computing and education.

EtextCenter - More Over 2,100 publicly-available ebooks from the University of Virginia Library’s Etext Center including classic British and American fiction, major authors, children’s literature, American history, Shakespeare and much more.

Fiction eBooks Online - Hundreds of plays, poems, short stories, picture books and classic novels.

Full Books - Thousands of full-text books sorted by title–both fiction and nonfiction.

Get Free Books - Thousands of free books on nearly every topic imaginable. All books are available for instant download.

Great Literature Online - Free, HTML formatted e-text from ClassicAuthors.net. A links page for each author makes this site a great resource for college students.

Internet Public Library - Online collection of reference books including almanacs, dictionaries and encyclopedias.

Literature of the Fantastic - Small collection of science fiction and fantasy books with links to discussions.

Literature Project - Free library of classic books, poems, speeches and plays with optional speech-to-text software.

Magic Keys - Free illustrated children’s stories for people of all ages.

Master Texts - Database of free, full-text literary masterpieces searchable by title, subject and author.

The Online Books Page - Listing over 30,000 free books on the Web

Open Book Project This site, geared towards the educational community, provides free textbooks and other educational materials online.

Page By Page Books - Catch up on your reading list, expand your horizons, or just spend a relaxing evening by yourself.

Project Gutenberg - There are over 25,000 free books in the Project Gutenberg Online Book Catalog.

Public Literature - A huge collection of fine literature that showcases classic authors and modern works from around the world.

Read Print - Free online library with thousands of books, poems and plays for students and teachers.

Ref Desk - Tons of free encyclopedias and other reference books from the best reference site on the web.

The Online Books Page - A listing of over 30,000 free books on the web from the University of Pennsylvania.

The Perseus Digital Library - An evolving digital library from Tufts University that features texts from the classical and Renaissance world.

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Style is the manner in which one expresses himself. Styles differ as men differ. But there are some cardinal qualities that all good style must possess.

Perspicuity is opposed to obscurity of all kinds; it means clearness of expression. It demands that the thought in the sentence shall be plainly seen through the words of the sentence. Perspicuity is an indispensable quality of style; if the thought is not understood, or it is misunderstood, its expression might better have been left unattempted. Perspicuity depends mainly upon these few things:–

1.   One’s Clear Understanding of What One Attempts to Say: You cannot express to others more than you thoroughly know, or make your thought clearer to them than it is to yourself.

2.   The Unity of the Sentence: Many thoughts, or thoughts having no natural and close connection with each other, should not be crowded into one sentence.

3.   The Use of the Right Words: Use such words as convey your thought–each word expressing exactly your idea, no more, no less, no other. Use words in the senses recognized by the best authority. Do not omit words when they are needed, and do not use a superfluity of them. Be cautious in the use of he, she, it, and they. Use simple words–words which those who are addressed can readily understand. Avoid what are called bookish, inkhorn, terms; shun words that have passed out of use, and those that have no footing in the language–foreign words, words newly coined, and slang.

4. A Happy Arrangement: The relations of single words to each other, of phrases to the words they modify, and of clauses to one another should be obvious at a glance. The sentence should not need rearrangement in order to disclose the meaning. Sentences should stand in the paragraph so that the beginning of each shall tally exactly in thought with the sentence that precedes; and the ending of each, with the sentence that follows. Every paragraph should be a unit in thought, distinct from other paragraphs, holding to them the relation that its own sentences hold to one another, the relation that the several parts of each sentence hold to one another.

Energy is force, vigor, of expression.  We use energy when we wish to convince the intellect, arouse the feelings, and capture the will–lead one to do something. When energetic, we select words and images for strength and not for beauty; choose specific, and not general, terms; prefer the concrete to the abstract; use few words and crowd these with meaning; place subordinate clauses before the independent; and put the strongest word in the clause, the strongest clause in the sentence, the strongest sentence in the paragraph, and the strongest paragraph in the discourse, last. Energetic thought seeks variety of expression, is usually charged with intense feeling, and requires impassioned delivery.

Imagery -  Figures of Speech: Things stand in many relations to each other. Some things are

1.   like each other in some particular; other things are

2.   unlike each other in some particular; and still other things stand to each other

3.   in some other noteworthy relation than that of likeness or unlikeness. Things long seen and associated by us in any of these relations come at last readily to suggest each other.

Figures of Speech are those expressions in which, departing from our ordinary manner in speaking of things, we assert or assume any of these notable relations. The first and great service of imagery is to the thought–it makes the thought clearer and stronger. Imagery adds beauty to style.

A Simile, or Comparison, is a figure of speech in which we point out or assert a likeness between things otherwise unlike; as, The gloom of despondency hung like a cloud over the land.

A Metaphor is a figure of speech in which, assuming the likeness between two things, we bring over and apply to one of them the term that denotes the other.

A Personification is a figure of speech in which things are raised to a plane of being above their own–to or toward that of persons.

1.   It raises mere things to the plane of animals

“The sea licks your feet.”

2.   It raises mere animals to the plane of persons.

“So talked the spirited, sly Snake.”

3.   It raises mere things to the plane of persons.

“Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own.”

An Antithesis is a figure of speech in which things mutually opposed in some particular are set over against each other.

“The mountains give their lost children berries and water.”

“The sea mocks their thirst and lets them die.”

A Metonymy is a figure of speech in which the name of one thing connected to another by a relation other than likeness or unlikeness is brought over and applied to that other. The most important of these relations are

1.   that of the sign to the thing signified

2.   that of cause to effect

3.   that of instrument to the user of it

4.   that of container to the thing contained

5.   that of material to the thing made out of it

6.   that of contiguity

7.   that of the abstract to the concrete

8.   that of part to the whole or of whole to the part.

This last relation has been thought so important that the metonymy based upon it has received a distinct name–Synecdoche.

Variety is a quality of style opposed to monotonous uniformity.  Words must be properly varied, so the same word does not appear with offensive frequency; long words alternate with short; the usual order now and then yields to the transposed; the verb in the assertive form frequently gives way to the participle and the infinitive, which assume; figures of speech sparkle here and there in a setting of plain language; the full method of statement is followed by the contracted; impassioned language is succeeded by the unemotional; long sentences stand side by side with short, and loose sentences with periods; declarative sentences are relieved by interrogative and exclamatory, and simple sentences by compound and complex; clauses have no rigidly fixed position; and sentences heavy with meaning and moving slowly are elbow to elbow with the light and tripping. In a word, no one form or method or matter is continued so long as to weary, and the reader is kept fresh and interested throughout. Variety adds to the clearness and to the force of what is addressed to him.

Source: Kellogg, Brainerd and Reed, Alonzo: Higher Lessons in English, 1896

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“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”
~ Henry David Thoreau

Most of my ideas come from the world around me.  To write I have to be in the world to interact, observe and imagine.  I find inspiration in everyday events, an overheard conversation, a visit to the store or reading the newspaper.

I write everyday, whether I’m inspired or not. At first the words come painfully slow, the work of writing eclipsing the joy.  Eventually the words start flowing and I forget how hard it is.  I begin with no expectation of producing results so I’m free to be outrageous and this is when truly beautiful ideas blossom.

Even the most successful writers struggle to write from time to time, but they are successful because they write anyway.   A creativity block may be due to a subconscious sense of fear of the unknown, a fear of failure or even a fear of succeeding and the demands that come from it.

I write a page about anything, if I had a superpower it would be ….. I would use it to ….if I were (a celebrity, the President, disabled) my typical day would be like….

It is different when you write the words on a page rather than typing them on a screen. You may slow down, become more contemplative or judicious with the words you choose. To fire up right brain hemisphere, write with your left hand. This can be a practice in patience, especially if you are normally right handed, but the payoff isn’t a slew of pages. The payoff is a bevy of intriguing ideas waiting to be explored.

Begin where the last sentence left off.  This tricky technique is not for the faint of heart. It will take you down dark passages and into strange neighborhoods. Neighborhoods where thoughts and ideas battle for territory in my crowded mind. Mind the words, for they are currency and must be spent with care. Care and determination will be your greatest allies.

Another trick is to begin with the end. Telling a story backwards forces you to plan ahead. No one arrives at a destination by chance; they arrive step by step. Starting at the end gives you hindsight, which is always 20/20.

Write a word: the first word that comes to mind. Then construct a sentence containing that word. If a second sentence doesn’t take shape - write a second word, and so on.

I’ve found that the best way to generate story ideas is to observe the world.  I capture my observations and thoughts in a notebook. Once I write them down, I’m able to free my imagination in search of more ideas.  I watch people interact, I pose “What If” questions and I change the familiar.

Ideas are simple, making them your own is difficult.

I will never have enough time to write about all the story ideas I’ve gathered, so I decided to share them.  I hope one or more of these ideas inspire you to write more, write now.

Innocent Bystander

1. It’s a typical day…you wake up, go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, stumble bleary eyed into the kitchen for coffee and….FBI agents crash down the front door. Your world is suddenly turned upside down. You’re accused of being a terrorist. How do you prove your innocence?

2. You overhear a conversation at work. It’s strange, curious but nonsense. Unfortunately, what you’ve heard is a plot to control the stock market and now you’re considered a threat. You’re fired, discredited and assaulted. The only way you can clear your name is to unravel the plot.

3. Customs find drugs in your bag when and you realize you’ve been used to smuggle drugs by your (lover / family member / friend). The DEA offers you a chance at freedom but you’ll go undercover and provide information.

4. A man is shot dead before your eyes. In his last moment of life, he grasps your hand and whispers a warning “they will kill him, tomorrow.’ You know he is speaking of the (president/ presidential candidate/ controversial public figure) who is appearing at a rally. When you try to warn him, you become a suspect.

Reluctant Hero

5. You stop a woman being assaulted by a man. You become romantically involved with her and later learn the man has been killed. She changes before your eyes and you start to worry about your own safety.

6. You’re taken hostage during a bank robbery. Fortunately you’ve had some experience in this area (Retired FBI / Military Hero / Psychiatrist ) and you convince the robber(s) to release the hostages one by one, while you remain behind.

7. A terrified man comes knocking on your door one night. He is bloody and incoherent. You help him and call 911. He lives, but he is a dangerous addition to your circle of acquaintances. Instead of expressing gratitude or even disappearing from your life, he becomes a menacing stalker.

Life After Death

8. You are pronounced dead after an accident, and resurrected with new (character traits / memories / abilities) which are so frightening you seek the advice of a religious figure. You’re told you’ve returned from hell and brought evil back with you.

9. One day, without warning or reason, you begin to see dead people. Your family thinks you’ve gone insane and you wonder yourself. Only they seem so real and determined to communication to you. You decide to help them in hopes you’ll be rid of them.

10. You’ve found the exact location in the body where the soul resides. If it is surgically removed prior to death, it can be transplanted into another body, facilitating eternal life. The only problem is finding healthy donors.

11. You receive an organ transplant, along with the donor’s (memories / traits / abilities) which lead you to discover more about your donor’s life and death.

Apocalyptical Themes

12. There is a global threat, (nuclear warfare / asteroid / global warming) to humanity.

13. A plague sweeps across the world as carriers unknowingly infect people on every continent. The few survivors remain in a lawless state and must fight to restore their way of life.

14. The anti-Christ comes to power as a National Leader, revered and respected, until his bloody agenda becomes clear and it’s too late to stop him. The world is a war zone between good and evil.

15. In a Post Apocalyptic world, there are (mutants / gangs / machines) who jeopardize the tentative efforts at rebuilding society.

Modern Day Horror Stories

16. Your child is abducted. The police believe he is dead, but you continue to search.

17. You are abducted and in order to survive, you….

18. You are lost in the forest and in order to survive, you…

19. Your loved one is kidnapped and in order to save them you….

20. A well respected surgeon is accused of killing brain damaged patients, to obtain their organs in cardiac-death procedures. You are the (nurse / peer / family member) who discovers the crime and at your own peril, bring him to justice.

Too Good to be True

21. You win the lottery and suddenly you have more friends then ever before. You need to discover who is there for you or you risk losing more than money.

22. You fall in love only to discover your lover has a hidden agenda. A seductive boyfriend becomes an abusive husband. The perfect woman is a black widow.

23. You discover the fountain of youth in an experimental drug designed to cure Alzheimer’s, however the drug has terrible side affects. You are in constant agony, physically and emotionally, transforming from human to something else, angry and dangerous.

24. You embark on a treasure hunt to find (religious artifacts / pirate gold / sunken treasure / Mayan gold) and you must overcome obstacles along the way. This would be good fish out of water story: you’re an intellectual with the “map” but you need brawn on your side to succeed.

25. You dabble in witchcraft. It is just a game to start, and when you realize you have power, it becomes thrilling and impossible to resist. Until dark forces begin to manipulate your powers for their own agendas.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…