CuteWriting

I found that when writing and talking in numbers, people tend to make several mistakes. I thought it a good idea to dispel some myths in this post. Here are some examples of good use: Five of my friends are coming tomorrow. He is 14 years older than I am. The telephone number of John is two oh three oh two one two. "Wright brothers' flying machine was patented in nineteen oh six," the professor explained. Numbers in Written Form Don't begin a sentence with a number in figure form. Wrong: 20 candidates were selected to go for the trip. Correct: Thirty-three people in different academic levels were awarded. If the number is a digit (less than ten), always spell it out: I have three close friends. Two of my cousins are in the US. I gave out five of my books. If the number is above nine, then you can either spell it out or use figures. But when spelling out numbers up to ninety-nine, don't forget that hyphen. I wonder how she could run 20 kilom...

Yesterday, I received a comment at my press release distribution sites list . Lenin, One factor not included in your list is which sites are indexed by Google News. You can check this by going to Google News and doing a search such as site:BigNews.biz (just swap out the URL for whatever site you want to check on) this will check to see if the press releases from that site are listed in Google News. Many are not, and Google news can drive a huge amount of traffic. The suggestion made through the comment is very valuable and I pointed out it in my reply. You have to check and see if the press release site is actually listed in Google News before working with it. It is a good indication of how valuable the site is. Here we have some guidelines for writing effective press releases, as well as some press release templates from the Microsoft Office and Open Office galleries. What Is a Press Release for? A press release is any news announcement made by an entity, including individuals...

This is a guest-post by professional writer and editor, Ms Lillie Ammann . Read below to know further about her You've finished your manuscript. Now you're ready to submit it to an agent or a publisher. But is your manuscript really ready? Let's assume that you have honed your craft and the quality of your work is superb. What can you do to increase the odds that an agent or publisher will offer you a contract? Aspiring authors are understandably eager to submit their masterpiece to an agent or an editor at a publishing house. But before you pack that manuscript to ship or click-send an e-mail message, take a little time to improve the chances of catching the agent's or editor's attention. Edit the manuscript one more time If you haven't read the manuscript aloud, reading aloud helps you catch awkward phrasings, omitted words, and other mistakes that are easily overlooked when reading silently. As writers, we tend to read what we meant to write, not what ...

As you read in my last post, NaNoWriMo is a fun novel writing game. It stands for National Novel Writing Month, and the month is November. Aspiring writers cannot afford to miss deadlines, and this writing game is quite a bit about keeping deadlines. Completing 50,000 or more words of pure fiction in 30 days’ time is sheer fun ride. Here I have some tips to equip you for it. Make sure you register at NaNoWriMo website before 30th this month. 1. Plan Ahead At this eleventh hour, planning ahead may seem awkward. But time is always valuable. You got three days to go before the competition actually starts. You can decide your plot, characters, schedule, time when you sit to write those 2000 words daily, maybe watch a few films or read a few short stories to gain some ideas, or read some related non-fiction as part of your research. You should make sure to write at a fixed period every day. This should be decided in these three days. These three days and the thirty days coming a...

I am thrilled to publish this interview with 3-time published writer, Ms Carol Denbow. Her latest release, How to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Story concentrates on all aspects of novel writing. Carol, it's wonderful to have your interview. Can you briefly tell us how you came into the world of writing? Carol Denbow: Purely by accidental discovery. After years in business for myself, and seeing first hand how difficult small business can be, I felt the need to convey the lessons I had learned (the hard way) to others desiring to be self-employed. To do this, I wrote my first book, Are You Ready to Be Your Own Boss? As most seasoned writers are already aware, writing is addictive-the road was paved. Your latest work, A Book Inside, How to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Story addresses the process of publishing in depth? Carol Denbow: Publishing is a complicated business, and yes, it is a business. The book explains in an easy to read and comprehend manner all publishing o...

Internet has revolutionized business in every way. The business of freelance writing is no different. Today, freelancers can make a living through Internet , by creating content for various freelance websites and independent clients from anywhere in the world. Here we will see various ways writers are earning enough money from the Internet to quit their day jobs. Part I: Freelance Writing Websites Writers can start their business and build a portfolio through any of the several freelance writing sites out there. Some of them are reviewed here. 1. Constant-Content Constant Content is obviously the leader in providing website content to thousands of clients worldwide. Here, writers with some experience can submit content on any topic of their choice and set a fixed price on these articles to sell them to prospective clients. The author earns sixty five per cent of the sale earnings. If the customers don't find articles they are looking for, they can request for content t...

Here are some ways you can look the most professional on your blog posts. A blog’s look and feel is mainly in its articles, the content. So, make your blog’s content follow a professional code of typography to make it look stunning. The Title Capitalization One thing that you can look most unprofessional is by not adopting a proper capitalization to your titles. If you look at the article titles in CuteWriting, you know that each important word in the title is capitalized. This is a guideline to follow . “How to prepare chicken 65” is a worse title than “How to Prepare Chicken 65?”. Here, you should follow a general code. I capitalize all important words on the title, which excludes articles and two-letter prepositions . However, I capitalize words like ‘Is’, ‘Are’ etc . I don’t capitalize ‘and’ while I do ‘Not’ . While these guidelines are different for different people, it is advisable that you set a standard for your blog and follow it strictly. Examples: How Not to Pr...

I wrote my first two published novels, Carrie and ’Salem’s Lot, in the laundry room of a doublewide trailer, pounding away on my wife’s portable Olivetti typewriter and balancing a child’s desk on my thighs. Stephen King, On Writing When you have fully grown to a writer, an ordinary room may not be enough for you to write well. Here are some guidelines on choosing the right room and building it up into a great workplace. Don’t you see, it’s an art to build your ordinary room to a tasteful writer’s workplace. If you visit my writing room, you will know how terrible it is. My home is almost always noisy right outside my room. If I close the door, the room will get hot within minutes; the temperature will go above 45 degrees centigrade (113 degree Fahrenheit). There is only a fan and no air conditioner. So, I will have to open either the door or the window in order to get some fresh air; otherwise, the room will be oppressive and I will be sweating. Also, if I open the door, the nois...

This post is by the request of Mr Subramaniyan, who queried: Lenin, would you please write a post on how to write a good official email? Email has become almost the most important way of communication on the Net. And today, most of the Internet users start their daily life checking their latest emails and marking which to reply and which to store. That’s why there is this great competition going on in the email provider industry in terms of storage, speed, etc. How many of us, still, follow the correct guidelines in professional email communication? So few, an appalling secret. When you grow to a professional blogger or writer, you are expected to comply with the rules in your official communications. You can be informal on your personal communications, but not in professional! The Language and Grammar Do we actually write in correct grammar in our official emails? How many of us have quite a well-formatted language in our communication? I must confess even I have erred quite a...

How to Avoid Gender Discrimination: Some Guidelines Gender discrimination is a widely disputed topic. Should you show respect to one gender or the other in particular in your writing? Do you feel bad that you are giving only one gender importance? Then please read this article. Now, people avoid gender in writing in three ways. First, they use ‘he/she’, ‘him/her’, etc. This kind of writing actually gives you a terrible reading experience, as in: He/she should describe him/her very well. I should have avoided him/her, whoever he/she was. Such sentences are a pain to read, if in great numbers. Secondly, many writers blindly go to pluralism to avoid this. They usually rewrite their singular sentences to plural form to reach generality. If a policeman has to capture a criminal, he has to act intelligently. This sentence is rewritten as: Policemen should be intelligent enough to capture criminals. Thirdly, some writers blindly adopt ‘he’ for every need. They just write norma...

[Post Commemorating Indian Independence on August 15, 1947] Recently a WordPress blogger and freelance writer wrote about some health issues faced by writers, including Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, muscle cramps, and something very peculiar called broad butt syndrome . She experienced a flattening of her butt due to sitting on her office chair for longer periods. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or CTS in short is a neuropathy of the wrist, in which the median nerve (one of the five major nerves on the arm) at the wrist gets pinched causing muscle pain and weakness. The syndrome is more common in women above the age of forty. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Though in most cases the cause of the syndrome is unknown, it is usually attributed to long term inconsistent typing . Physicians also attribute this syndrome to various other things including, obesity, pregnancy, arthritis, amyloidosis, multiple myeloma, diabetes, etc. Usually this syndrome seems to be a come-and-go type...

Have you ever noticed that certain blog posts are so sticky that you continue to read them till the end? We will check out certain elements of making your blog entries sticky. Content vs. Keywords Many people forget the coordination between their content and keywords , though it is extremely important . You know what makes a content most sticky? It’s the reader; if he wants the content, then it’s sticky, otherwise it’s not . Most important hint of what a blog post is about is in the title of the post . This is why search engines rank the posts, whose titles have certain keywords, high for those keywords . When you post a blog entry, you will get search visitors from search engines. Have you ever noticed which of the search queries they are using to land your page ? These queries are going to turn your blog’s statistics upside down. For instance, you posted an entry about “how to milk a cow?” and had to include two sentences about NASA’s latest venture into the space (maybe be...

What writers are most interested in is the information on how they are progressing . They want others to speak good about their stories, or give them suggestions for improvement. Peer reviews are the only way to help writers achieve this. Here I have three websites that will help you get peer reviews of your writing, mostly short fiction. 1. Baen’s Universe Slush Pile Baen’s Universe is a short story submission magazine, we reviewed on the post on short story submission magazines . Ordinarily, the writers allowed to submit to Baen’s Universe are those writing on science fiction and fantasy , and are unpublished. Each issue of Baen’s Universe has two slots for introducing new authors . For getting your story published with this magazine, you have to register as a new member within Baen’s Universe slush forum located at Baen’s Bar . This is a free forum for all to join. It is for people to submit their short stories for consideration to Baen’s Universe as well as other magazines ...

I was busy searching for some great books that teach you the art of novel writing . I searched extensively in Amazon and selected the most popular and highest-rated books, based on the user reviews of them. In this list, I have included the average rate each book got and the number of reviewers for each. I haven’t personally read any of the books in the list, except the first one, On Writing by Stephen King . Others are purely recommended based on their rating and reviews. 1. On Writing by Stephen King Avg Rating: 4.5 (801 reviews) This is the only book in this list that I read myself and still keep as a primary writing style reference. The mere fact that Stephen King wrote this book fetched whopping 801 reviews for it in Amazon. Almost 600 people rate it as the very best writing guide. I would give it a four . On Writing is a semi-autobiographical record of King, which touches through some basic elements of writing only. It is perhaps because King likes to give writers m...