Writing 101: Setting and Worldbuilding – Ink and Quills

Writers often tend to overlook setting, but a vivid, well-developed setting can be a powerful part of your story and bring it to life for readers.

Source: Writing 101: Setting and Worldbuilding – Ink and Quills

5 Ways to Increase Your Story’s Tension – Ink and Quills

Is your story dragging? Breathe life back into it with these 5 ways to increase your story’s tension!

Source: 5 Ways to Increase Your Story’s Tension – Ink and Quills

A Simple Outline for Writing a Killer Book Blurb – Ink and Quills

Condensing a novel into a book blurb is no small task. If you have no idea where to begin, try this simple outline to create an effective blurb.

Source: A Simple Outline for Writing a Killer Book Blurb – Ink and Quills

Watch “5 Common Self Publishing Mistakes Every Writer Should Know” on YouTube

Great video for those dipping they’re toes in self publishing

Source: Watch “5 Common Self Publishing Mistakes Every Writer Should Know” on YouTube

Prompt 334

The man leans into you. There is a dark red almost black color to the whites of his eyes. He is so close his nose is almost touching your nose. You can feel his breath when he says, “We all have it in here. We are all infected.”

Prompt 333

Your driving on a country road. It is late at night. You are far from home. You realize, as you check your mirrors, there is a man you do not know, hiding on the floor of your back seat.

Where to Find Creative Writing Inspiration (Art Begets Art)

Suffering from writer’s block? Looking for writing inspiration? Refresh your imagination by engaging in the arts and come away with fresh ideas.

Source: Where to Find Creative Writing Inspiration (Art Begets Art)

Character-Driven Fiction Writing Prompts

These creative writing prompts are ideal for exploring characters as well as real people who populate your writing projects: fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.

Source: Character-Driven Fiction Writing Prompts

Writing A Great Story Starts With Writing A Killer Intro

The formal definition of an intro is a brief introductory passage. What is important is that you get the story right; it needs to encapsulate the essence or spirit of your overall point, try communicating through example. Capturing the essence is not enough; if nobody reads far enough to grasp the main point of the story then its purpose is lost.

If you are going to start writing, make sure it is a short intro. When readers see a headline they expect the writing below it to contain content which relates to that headline. There is only so much time a reader will spend with an intro about sports when the headline suggested the article was about vacations. Even if the intro, at its end, would have captured the essence of what the author was trying to say. Ask yourself; is it short enough that a reader is not losing his patience before the writing returns to the topic at hand?

The piece above contains an intro that is quite short. This kind of intro has the potential to work very well as long as the reader knows what they are reading. Readers know what the article is going to tell them in broad terms and so they know what to look-out for within the story.

Starting with a long introduction that appears to bear no relevance to the headline is the number one killer of otherwise good writing. When using long anecdotes you need to let your readers know before you begin how it relates to your topic, or many readers will drop out of your article before you have a chance to illustrate your point.

More essence in fewer words; the function of an introduction is to convey something about your broader point. Think about your intro as a whole and consider which details help do this and which do not. Extra details like dates, names, descriptions and diversions, if not necessary to the essence of the anecdote, serve only to distract the reader.

Should You Write A Resume Cover Letter Yourself

In this day and age competition is fierce for a limited number of desirable positions in the professional world. The only hope that many job seekers have, no matter how qualified they may be for the position, is to create a cover letter that turns up the “wow” factor and impresses hiring managers as something a little above and beyond the others.

If you are wondering whether or not you should write your own resume cover letter the answer is a resounding “yes.” There are many reasons you should write your own cover letter not the least of which is the fact that no one knows your qualifications any better than you. Feel free to take suggestions and research the proper methods of doing so but do not fall into the trap of using a form cover letter for your resume that was written as a one-size-fits-all sort of cover letter or having a cover letter written just for you by someone else. The voice will not transfer well to the interview and you want perspective employers to resonate with you rather than someone else who filled in the blanks on your behalf.

Your cover letter is your first chance for a first impression with potential employers. It is the opportunity to highlight the skills and talents you can bring to the table or, more to the point, how you can help them rather than how they can help you. It is also the perfect opportunity for you to give them a small taste of your personality in action. Personalities are the ones that show up to the office day in and day out. Your personality is going to have a greater impact on your ability to fit in well with a particular corporate climate than your skills (unless you are grossly incompetent or some sort of prodigy). Use your cover letter to let a little bit of your personality shine through. This will make it a little more interesting than the boring “just the facts ma’am” approach that so many job applicants use when creating a resume. While it may have worked in Dragnet it isn’t quite as likely to work in the corporate climate of today.

Cover letters are becoming popular because they are more personality influenced (or they can be) than traditional resumes and they allow a good feel for the person on the other end of the paper without reading quite as many stale facts and figures as you will typically find in a resume. Many hiring mangers simply find a cover letter much more appealing than they find reading resumes and they can often skim cover letters initially and review those that they found compelling a little more closely.

Ultimately a cover letter is one of, if not the most powerful tools in your job application arsenal. An artfully written cover letter that remains positive, professional, and personable is much more likely to achieve the desired results than a resume that has been professionally prepared in hopes of gaining a foot in the door and that is no small accomplishment. The problem for most is that professional cover letter services cannot provide that personal touch that can only come with you. As I mentioned above no one knows the contribution you can offer by way of skills and personality better than you. This makes you your best advocate in the process of creating a killer cover letter for your resume.

Make sure that your passion for the position shines through when writing your resume. If you have a sincere passion for the work you do or the work you are hoping to do your words are the best in the world to get that message across. A passion for the job, product, or service is one of the greatest things you can bring to a company and hiring managers are well aware of this fact. If you write your own cover letter you can explain your passion, it might make the difference between being invited back for an interview or not and every positive edge you can find is an edge worth exploiting in today’s competitive business climate. Most importantly, try to have fun writing your cover letter yourself. You may discover a hidden talent.