The debate goes on over how many stories actually exist. It is said that contemporary writers can only produce spins on the basic story types. In other words, no matter how ingenious a writer is, even a great writer can only write a reproduction of a story contrived years ago.

Boy Meets Girl

Good versus Evil

The Good Ol’ Comedy

The debate actually gets a little more in depth, but that’s the gist. Some writers feel certain that we’ve exhausted every angle of the Boy Meets Girl story type. Any story that comes out now is only a spin-off of a story already told.

Sometimes, writers are correct. I mean, how many different ways can you tell Cinderella? And they keep coming. The trend these days is to make the story more real. I grew up on a cartoon version that interested me very little since I was into GI Joe and the Superheroes. But, recent stories of Cinderella have told a less magical, more realistic type of story that makes the audience think that the story could actually be true.

This trend has taken place with such stories as Snow White, Beauty and the Beast and The Wizard of Oz. Writers attempt to make the story come to life with realistic characters and a realistic story line. It’s the absolute reversal of years ago when the audience was hungry for fairy tales to escape the daily life.

Good versus Evil is also a concept the writers can’t seem to get away from at all. But, Good versus Evil is always welcome in every story. In fact, most audiences are geared to spot the conflict from the beginning. The story really can’t work without a Good versus Evil scenario.

But, writers are trying. They look at an archetype of a story structure and try to play with it. The anti-romance is a byproduct of this type of thinking. If romance is a beautiful story where boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy stalks girl until she gives into his advances, girl gets whisked away on horseback into the sunset, then the anti-romance would offer us a complete reversal. It would read more like boy meets girl and she breaks his will to live, he attempts suicide hundreds of times until finally he is placed into an insane asylum where he is drugged heavily every day and all he can think about is the girl who by now has met someone and fallen in love, had several children and is abundantly happy, which makes boy ever more dark and depressed.

Knowing that archetypal structures exist in literature, the challenge then becomes a journey of discovering the absolute different story. But, what would it take to accomplish such a thing? It’s not as easy as you think.

And I mean think about it! Romeo and Juliet has been done. It’s not always in the form of Romeo meets Juliet, they fall in love in their secret meetings, Juliet pretends to commit suicide causing Romeo to commit suicide which causes Juliet to commit suicide and Verona returns to normal. No, Romeo and Juliet often comes in the form of Tony and Maria in the streets of New York City.

How many different ways can the hero save the damsel in distress? How many different ways can a feud erupt between warring peoples? And, how many different ways can we tell the story about Cinderella?

The true questions dive a bit deeper. Can a writer contrive a story that is absolutely unique? Would it mean that all of the former story telling techniques would have to be abandoned? Would such a story even be interesting to us?

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Proven, tested, breakthrough words that will get your writing noticed - exclusive to SupaProofRead for YOU!

You will write incredible web copy motivating readers to engage and act on your recommendations and making millions of pounds in commissions for yourself from happy clients.

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Time Out

OK - my sales copy hat has come off and I can write normal English now

Certain words drive a reader, particularly a reader who is searching the net for information either to help deal with a problem they have or performing research upon a product or service they are thinking of buying.

You have very little time to grab the attention and interest of the reader so give yourself some advantages over the writing competition.

We’ve dealt with “bad” words that should be avoided - if, but, maybe, could, should, perhaps…. these are all conditional and will lose the interest of your reader.

Now look at the copy above and pick out the words that leap out of the page - you should end up with a list similar to this one:

You/Your/Yourself - Exclusive - Proven - Tested - Breakthrough - Incredible - Benefit - First

There is no waffle in the copy above - it is imperative and decisive - “You will sell more stuff using these Brilliant words” which may sound uncomfortable and certainly may not sit well in polite, well-meaning company but sales copy is not about your feelings. Buyers/readers do not give a damn about you or your company or how many awards and recommendations the product or service has. They care about themselves and what your copy is telling them about solving their problem or satisfying a need - and that is it!

Focus on what the product or service will do for your reader and not on what it is.

One golden tip: use “You” more than “I” in your web or sales copy; you are looking to personalise the copy for your the reader and their issue, not your own.

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I remember the first thing I wrote. It was when I was about six years old. I wrote a poem about people slipping on banana peels and oil slicks. It was called “Slick Move” and it launched my writing career.

I’ve written all my life. With everything I was doing throughout my life, I was always a writer first. Throughout middle high and high school, I wrote short stories and poems. I tried writing a book, but it was a short story at best. My attention span couldn’t last long enough to write a complete three hundred page novel.

When I joined the Marine Corps right after high school, I wrote the entire time. I made general observations of different sights I saw. I kept snap shots of my life in the Marine Corps and they’re still lying around somewhere waiting to be put together in some kind of fashion.

By the time I was discharged, I thought I was a stellar writer and I put myself through college for a degree in English. The things I had to read broadened my experiences. But, writing really opened my eyes. I wrote my papers so fast and always was awarded good grades. I kept every paper. I look back on them now and I can easily see how amateur they are.

That’s the journey of a writer. College for me ended years ago. But, even things I’ve written since then seem amateur to me. I can look back on something I wrote only two years ago and just rip right through it, shred it from end to end to make it better.

Yes, I can see the value in each work. I can see a potential that some day, all of the little things I’ve written can be put together for a greater piece of work. But, I can also see a growing. It’s almost like taking quantum leaps. But, it’s not just in the quality of the work.

Years ago when I first started freelancing, I could write an article rather fast. It was just like writing an essay in college. If I had a topic, I had a paper. But, requirements are rather demanding. You can’t make a living off of just one article. You have to keep writing.

Some clients who had hired me wanted two or three articles a week. It was hard for me to manage, especially after several weeks. I was running out of topics. I felt like I was saying the same things over and over. I was hitting a brick wall and I was getting my work in at the last minute instead of ahead of time like I prefer to do.

I remember my first book. It made me sweat a little. I had the topic and the outline. All I had to do was follow the outline and fill in the gaps with viable information. But, it was a grueling project. It took a year for me to compile the research and write the book. That’s how much time I was given and that’s how much time I took.

But now, I can write a book in a week no problem. I can’t guarantee the quality of the book after just one week. But, I would have about two hundred to three hundred pages no problem. Put the book up for a few days and then go back to edit the work. It would turn out just fine.

I can write an article in an hour. When I really want to put some backbone and elbow grease into it, writing an article can take about three to four hours. But when I have all the information I need and I sit down to write, I don’t even need an hour to put it all together. I’ve been known to write an article in about twenty minutes before.

I know this comes off as one big brag session or resume, but it has a purpose. The more I wrote, the better I became. Writing is just like anything else. The more you do something, the easier it gets or at least the better you get at doing it.

The first house you’ll ever have to frame overwhelms you and makes you feel as if it’s impossible. You frame your first house and you think of all the work that is involved. It was tough. It was tricky at times. You’re not ready for your next one yet because you’re thinking of all the work that was involved.

But, two or three years passes and you’ve framed ten to fifteen houses. It’s easy now. You can do it without a problem. You’ve grown.

In writing, the only way to get better is to put your pen to the paper. Write and write. Never stop writing. You’ll see the changes. The amount of work a client gives you might seem overwhelming at first, but years later you can do it with your eyes closed. You might think you’ll never meet a deadline and years later you’re wondering why your clients are giving you so much time.

Your papers are getting red marks all over them. Years later, you are perfect. You can correct yourself. You can pick up on your own strengths and weaknesses. You have taken the writer’s journey. You’ll be just fine.

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Do not use certain words if you can help it - they turn readers off - and here are the top five baddies.

IF - BUT - COULD - SHOULD - MAYBE

What on earth have I got against these poor souls?

They do not activate or invigorate or motivate - they are conditional - I WANT READERS TO ACT ON MY CONTENT !

If When you use these words in your copy, and I’m targetting sales and SEO copy here, there cannot be conditional requests made of your readers. They are not going to be interested in the following:

If you need fresh breath, you need Minto Fresh!

Could you buy the new Porsche but worry about the finance?

Maybe it’s time to think about a remortgage?

“If you need fresh breath?” Of course you want fresh breath why ask the question in the first place?

I drive a Porsche and I don’t give a hoot about the finance because it is a superb car that goes like the clappers!

The straight answer to “Maybe….” is “NO!”

Let’s take a look at another example:

“If you want to earn top grades in your exams you should look at XYZ PassNotes!”

Now compare that to this:

“Get top grades with XYZ Passnotes!”

Bad words encourage you to waffle with your writing and your message is going to get lost very quickly - checking your writing is not just about watching for typos and grammar errors - check your work for these words too and get rid of them!

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Building a professional writing portfolio is rather difficult when you try to break through into publishing. Magazines turn you down left and right. Publishers won’t even look at you most of the time without an agent. You’ll soon learn that in this industry, you’ll get so many rejections before you get one acceptance.

But, that comes with the territory. You have to put on your coat of armor and learn not to take too many things personal. To learn a little bit about getting published, it’s somewhat like becoming a model. Watch shows that are designed to educate the public about the modeling industry.

When you watch a model get prepared for a shot and then go through the shoot, you see an individual being told how to look and how to act. Later, after the shots are developed, she gets both criticized and praised at the same time. One critic says that the look in her eyes just doesn’t sell the product, it isn’t about the client at all. Another critic says that the look is special, it has all the emotions the client wants. Which one should she believe?

The fact of the matter is that in modeling, it’s a very fragile and inconsistent world. Egos are constantly being tested and easily destroyed. Also, no one person’s opinion is the standard. One client might want the blonde, “Barbie” type model to promote their products while another might want a very different type of model. “Barbie” even gets rejected every once in awhile.

That’s how the writing industry is. That’s why you have to be tough and you can’t take too many opinions personal when it comes to your work. For one thing, your writing might not be what one publisher wants but it is ideal for another. Just like the next reason that one critic might not like your writing, but another loves you.

One rule of thumb is to learn the criticism that works to make you a better writer. Disregard criticism that has no meaning to your writing purpose or style. Once you’ve learned to survive the criticism, start building your profile in ways offered to writers in this day and age.

EzineArticles.com

To become an expert author on ezinearticles.com, you have to submit ten articles and have them approved. You don’t have to submit them all at once. Take your time, follow the guidelines and make sure that it is your best writing. You’ll get exposure through ezinearticles.com because the articles are syndicated. Any Ezine can pick up your article as long as they keep your byline intact. That can mean thousands of readers exposed to your writing besides each article building your body of work.

AssociatedContent.com

Another article submission site with a positive reputation is associatedcontent.com. In order to become a Content Producer on associatedcontent.com, you have to submit six articles and have them approved. Then, your work is published automatically. Your work is not syndicated, but you can publish your work anywhere else that you want. The great thing about associatedcontent.com is that you actually get paid by the site. You can get paid upfront for a piece and you can get paid per view of your work. Some writers on associatedcontent.com are making several hundred dollars a month just from writing what they want to write and letting others read it.

Lulu.com

Become a published author and publish your first book. It has never been easier to get a book published than through lulu.com. But first, you have to write a book. It is not that hard if you just get to it and do it. Promise yourself that you will write six pages a day at the very least. If you have never written six pages in a day, work your way up to it. If you want to be a professional writer, you are going to have to learn to love writing. Most writers can produce far more than six pages a day. But, that’s a good start. Once you’ve written your first book, visit lulu.com and get it published. You can design your own book cover or use one of theirs. You will have to learn a few other steps too, but lulu.com has an answer for every question you have. Just learn the process and get published. Now, you’re a published author.

You can build your profile with a well-written blog and you can find other ways as well to add to your building body of work. But once you get a substantial amount of work, you’ll have the confidence to start putting in proposals for freelance work. Now, you’re growing your portfolio with far greater experiences and before long you will be well on your way to landing any opportunity you want.

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