Archive for April, 2009

How To Write And Publish Your Own Book

Posted on Apr 30, 2009 08:10:23 AM

There are great rewards when writing a book for the first time. There is a great sense of accomplishment by the individual person once they have a complete manuscript in their hand.

The other reward is obviously money; if you write a good book that is marketed correctly you will receive a reward.

Depending on how well you market your book will depend on the size of the pay cheque.

The first step to writing a good book is…Writing the book.

Start on your computer or with a piece of paper and start writing; don’t go back to correct spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, sentences that don’t make sense. Just keep writing.

Set yourself a target each day, say you want to write 20 pages in a day, then stick to it and do it.

In a short amount of time, hopefully in less than two weeks you will have a rough manuscript.

The next step is to get your book proof read and copy edited. The copy editor will make any grammatical changes, correct spelling mistakes and get your book reading well.

You then need to design the layout of your book, this is important because the book must have sufficient gaps, payout in the correct paces so the readers don’t get tired.

You then need to design a cover for your book, you can do this yourself or you can find a cover designer on the Internet.

Next you need to get an ISBN number; you can usually find these on the Internet. You can buy these from a few sources; the best price I have seen them for is $55.00.

All books need printing, and you need to find a printing company, I would suggest Gardeners or Book Force. Upload your book to their websites; they will take care of all the printing and distribution for you.

The penultimate step is to deposit your books in the legal deposit library; this is a requirement that 6 copies of each book written need to be deposited to qualify as an actual book.

The final step is to register a book registration company; in the UK it’s Nielsons Book Data. You need to find out what it is in the USA. If you are a resident there.

You all done, your book will appear on Amazon and other online book shops, all you have to do is go out and promote your book.

Get out on the road, hire a PR agency, get on your local radio station, write to the newspapers.

Good Luck and Good Writing.

The Gift Of Writer’s Block

Posted on Apr 29, 2009 09:31:40 AM

Anyone who writes knows this scenario at one time or another: You have something to say, great ideas to express. So, you go to the page only to find your mind has gone as blank as the sheet or screen before you. Paralyzed, you write not a word. Somewhere in the synapses of your imagination, you know there lives a fully formed novel, or story, or play, or even one single poem, but you cannot magnify it enough to see the individual words. So you leave it for another day…until your vision is clearer, until inspiration strikes and reveals all 350 pages of text, all 36 lines of poetry. Until the writer’s block is gone.

Sometimes inspiration does strike from out of the blue, and words pour down like rain. Ideas synthesize, fingers fly and Voila! You’ve created a masterpiece…or at least a pretty good piece of work.

But such strikes of inspiration are not, for most of us, the norm. Writing takes commitment, and good writing takes practice.

Still, what about writer’s block?

Even when your diligent with your practice, even when you show up day after day, you’re not immune from block, from finding yourself without two words that make any sense. What then?

First, shift your perspective on what writer’s block is. It’s easy to panic, to believe it means you’ll never write again, that you have no real talent or that you have nothing worthwhile to say. But none of these is near the truth.

Writer’s block is not the lack of skill or worthiness as a writer…it is, instead, a signifier revealing one of two things:

• There is a truth you are not yet ready to tell

• There is something more that needs to be learned or experienced before the ideas can be fully crystallized

When you write you cannot help but come up against and touch upon your own inner sore spots and the edges of your comfort zones. To write deeply you must delve inside of and push against these, stretching, questioning and seeing more and more clearly. The truths you tell yourself are the markers that guide you through. When you come to a place you are not yet ready to go, to words you are not yet ready to say or to something that is not yet in focus…you get stuck. Willingness to face the wall, to approach it with patience, compassion, trust and honesty, is the way through it. There is no way around it. Your blocks are gifts that push you to grow, to break through the hard places to reach fertile ground.

Let me share an example to explain. When I was writing my novel, I found myself going in circles around a primary relationship in the story…one between the main character and her mentor/teacher. I would talk about the teacher, but I couldn’t dive into the center of her role in the novel, most specifically I couldn’t find ANY words to put in her mouth. As long as she didn’t speak, I was okay. But that was a problem. There came a point when I could no longer keep her mute. She had to speak. But every time I tried, I ended up sitting in front of the screen, hands poised and my insides twisting in frustration.

Finally, I decided to get up and move. I went for a walk, and as my limbs fell into rhythm my mind fell into the story. The dialogue played out in my head. Away from the computer, I could have a conversation with the characters; I could get inside them and hear what they wanted to say.

On that walk it occurred to me that I had been unable to claim the voice of the mentor before then because I had not been able to claim her within my own being. Whenever the story demanded she speak, I would feel the panic of putting on paper what was being shared as wisdom. Who was I to say such things? Who was I to be the voice of wisdom? But just realizing what was “blocking” me, what I needed to learn, freed me. And along the way I opened doorways to my own growth.

When feeling “blocked” take a walk. Let your body move and your mind ease and flow. Ask yourself what you might fear in the work you are doing…what truth you are not yet ready to claim or tell. And know that we cannot always control the readiness of things. Time teaches us and directs our understanding, and our understanding directs the depth and breadth of our writing. Be patient with yourself. And keep writing.

Imagine This, Part 1

Posted on Apr 28, 2009 10:23:44 PM

Imagery and Characterization, can the two ever meet outside of an English class?

Is your hero a volcano, seething with fury and ready to burst at any moment? Is your heroine a skittish crane attempting to fly far, far away whenever trouble startles her? How about something more basic? Earth, air, fire, or water. When they’re angry, do they darken, flash, seethe, or boil? When they’re excited, do they thicken or sear, experience lightning or rivers of fire?

Talk about imagery and even writers roll back to their worst high school English class. That’s unfortunate because there is no easier tool for characterization than using good consistent imagery. How many of us have read something like this: His touch was like a hot brand against her skin. Her heart quivered with longing as he stabbed her with his arrow of luv. Okay, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea. Cliche imagery for cliche stories.

So many romance novels end up with Ken and Barbie characters. Physically they’re perfect, emotionally they’re perfect&ndashexcept for their one scar that is the focus of their arc. Barbie needs to learn to trust because she’s been dumped before. Ken lost his last girlfriend to a fire because he was a coma at the time therefore it was all his fault and he now has a protect the world from its own stupidity. I’m making fun here, but romance readers know how the same emotional baggage in the hands of one author is farce in someone else’s.

So how do you make your characters deeply emotional people with real problems instead of Ken in a coma? Hard work. Ha! You thought I was going to say imagery. No, good imagery will not save a stupid book. But consistent imagery will deepen your characters and&ndashhere’s the good part&ndashkeep your themes in your head from the beginning all the way through to the end of the book. Yup. Since writing is HARD WORK, anything that makes it EASIER WORK gets a thumbs up from me.

Raise your hand if you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about. Think of your heroine. For this example, we’ll call her Better Than Barbie (BTB). What’s her character arc? What does she learn through the course of the book? How does she change? If you can’t answer that, sit down and think of an answer. You can’t write a credible book without it. Remember, the answer could be that she doesn’t change. Despite everything, she remains rock solid in her beliefs.

Great, now BTB has a character arc. Let say BTB needs to learn to forgive, not only herself for her bad choices but her Mother From Hell who set her up with the Fianc

Write Better And Faster Using The Index Card Method

Posted on Apr 27, 2009 07:26:41 AM

In this article I’m going to discuss the “index card method” of writing. If you haven’t ever tried it, you should know that using index cards to write is a very good and useful way to get the job done. It’s easy once you get the basic idea, and if you practice it regularly you’ll be able to produce better results and faster results on a consistent basis.

For the purpose of this article, an “index card” is the little 3×5 or 4×6 lined paper card that you can purchase at your local office supply store. They provide just enough room to write some notes but not so much to let you go off on a tangent!

Now for the methodology…

You’ll need quite a few index cards on hand. You’ll need anywhere from 50 to 500 depending on the size of your book.

Step 1 is to get your notes onto the cards. Go through your sources, your thoughts, your notes, and write a little bit of text for each topic on each index card. The more detailed you are, the better… but you don’t want to over-do it. If you find yourself needing to turn the card over and write on the back you’re probably getting carried away.

Once you have moved all of your project-related notes onto the index cards, you sift through the cards and start categorizing and organizing them. Break them up into groups of related topics. It’s easiest just to create a few stacks and sort through them on your kitchen table or a similar surface.

The next step is to start to organize each individual stack into an order that “works”. This is the point where you need to consider the FLOW of your story, and how the order of events in your writing is going to affect your audience.

Finally, once you have ordered each individual stack, you need to sort them into order from beginning to end. I usually like to think of each stack as a chapter or section of the book. Depending on how you’ve worked up until this point, the precise divisions and the meaning of a group of cards might be different for you.

Now you have your complete project in a collection of ordered, organized index cards. This is the point at which you begin the traditional “writing” process, of actually typing the manuscript using your index cards as a guide. I would not sit down with the whole stack of cards at once, but would instead use “divide and conquer” to tackle one group at a time, and in each group take things one card at a time.

You’ll probably find at this stage that the writing process itself becomes more of a process of copying from the cards, paraphrasing, and “gluing” things together. If you have followed these steps faithfully to this point, your project will probably start to seem like it’s writing itself! The only thing left to do at this point is to focus on style and form, and making your writing flow together well.

To review, for this method to work, you need to take the following simple steps:

1. Transfer your thoughts and notes to index cards

2. Categorize the cards into stacks of cards that can be grouped together based on topic, etc.

3. Order the cards in each group into an order that makes sense

4. Order the groups themselves into an order that makes sense

5. Write your first draft straight from the cards, “gluing” things together here and there where necessary.

If you practice this method faithfully, you’ll probably find that it takes the difficult parts of writing and simplifies them, and allows you to spend more time on the parts of writing that you enjoy.

How Much Money Is Enough: Thoughts From Conduct In Question, The First In The Osgoode Trilogy

Posted on Apr 26, 2009 08:11:16 PM

Ever had your moral convictions put to the test? Most of us think we know what we’d do in any given situation. But do we really? Maybe another unknown part of us surfaces and takes over&ndashleaving us in a confusion of questions. But the deed is done and we cannot take it back.

This is the predicament, Harry Jenkins, protagonist/lawyer of The Osgoode Trilogy finds himself in, at the beginning of the first novel, Conduct in Question. Harry longs for freedom and love, but has been trapped under his senior partner’s thumb and in a dead marriage for years. He’s always been certain of his own moral convictions, but when his partner drops dead in the office, Harry is free to make his own mistakes.

He and his wife Laura often argue about money.

&ndasha topic fraught with land mines. Her hardened face floated up in his mind.

“Law practice is more than just making money,” Harry had insisted.

“Of course!” she said in wearily impatient tones. “But it certainly doesn’t hurt to set the right value on your services.”

“So I’m not making enough. Is that it?”

“No. But if you didn’t get so personally involved with your clients, maybe you’d do better.”

Harry was astonished. “So I care too much about them? I care about what I’m doing?”… “Clients trust me! I’ve earned that. I can’t turn around and fleece them.”

Although not satisfied with life, Harry&ndash

had learned his lessons well. He had kept his part of the bargain. But where was his reward? Flashy cars and grandiose houses were the supposed perks of his profession. His Ford was surrounded by Audis. Playing by the rules had not gotten him far. Of course, he wasn’t poor. Laura and he were comfortable. Yet, there was a yearning, a sense that the time for making real money was passing. But it wasn’t just the money. A dull emptiness nagged at his spirit.

And so, he is ripe for the picking! Almost immediately, he is swept into a massive money-laundering scheme by the enigmatic Mr. Chin &ndash land developer &ndash thereby putting him in direct conflict with his oldest and wealthiest client, Marjorie Deighton. With Albert Chin’s huge retainer check for work to be done, Harry senses something is amiss. When he deposits the check in the bank, the manager demands he make a payment on his deceased partner’s very substantial and overdue bank loan. Otherwise, he will freeze the Chin money. In a dilemma, Harry is forced to use the Chin retainer to make a payment.

Harry was scrupulous about client funds, and would fret if the bookkeeper missed a penny. Snatching up his check book, he saw in his mind the bright and trusting faces of a hundred clients. He saw those faces turn gray in disbelief when he uncapped his pen.

Petty triumph gleamed in Mudhali’s eyes.

Despite years of circumspection and care, Harry was driven by a new and reckless fury. Either he made a payment, or the bank would freeze his accounts. Mudhali had nailed him to the wall.

Like most of us, Harry is good at justifying his actions.

Albert Chin had said that money was no problem, and after all, there was lots of work in preparing those offers. He would search the titles to the properties, do the corporate searches, and prepare six offers and submit them. Surely that would add up to twenty-five grand. Besides, Chin would not have given him such a munificent retainer had he not expected a sizable bill. And Harry knew that he was not the only lawyer guilty of such an infraction.

What does Harry do? After all, he may be our hero, but he’s a pretty human guy. Despite his instincts and better judgment, he turns a blind eye to obvious signs of danger and accepts Mr. Chin’s gifts.

Harry withdrew two first-class tickets for flights and a voucher for a three-night stay in a luxury suite in Nassau. “The Atlantis Resort,” he whispered. Shimmering blue waters danced before his mind’s eye.

After a moment, he said, “This is more than kind of you, sir, but&ndash”

Mr. Chin held up his hand. “Please. The conglomerate wishes to express its gratitude for your most timely service. We know you have made room for us in your busy schedule.”

“But surely not. The retainer is very substantial, and…” He fingered the brochure, which featured a photograph of sunny beaches and gently lapping water.

And so, much of Conduct in Question is about Harry trying to extricate himself from the clutches of Mr. Chin. But Harry has lots of other problems to contend with when he comes face to face with the nature of evil in tracking down the Florist, a sadistic killer with an artistic flair who believes he is called to judge the worthiness of his victims. But that story is for another day!

How To Get People To Know That Your Book Is Out There

Posted on Apr 25, 2009 10:10:28 AM

Ok so you have been through the writing process, where you have wrote that perfect novel, and rewrote it again and again until it’s perfect. Then you found either a Publisher or Agent to represent you. Your book has been through the editing stage, cover art finalized, and a Published Date assigned, now what? Is the job done? Have you did all you needed to do to make this book a success? Nope, you have only begun. Now you have to market that book, get it into book stores, let people know it is available.

First off you need to find out from your Publisher or Agent where you book will be available at, who is doing reviews and any promoting they plan on doing. Once you have the answers to these questions you now know where to start.

A review is the first step to getting your book known. You can begin requesting reviews as soon as the Publisher has a final proof copy available. Most review sites can be found in the Search Engines by simply typing the Genre of your book, Examples are Romance and Sci-Fi, and the key words book reviews. You will then see either reviews done on books in your genre, which you can trace back to the source of the review or the actual review sites. Reviews are a great way to get the word out about your book and shows someone else’s opinion of it.

Your local book stores is a good place. I know what if they don’t want to carry it? Well that is something you have to find out. More than likely though you can go and speak to a manager who will either point you to someone else or they can handle your questions. So how do you approach them?

Begin by preparing a summary of your book, maybe a short excerpt or possibly a copy of a review. Your business card, and if you don’t already have don’t fret there are many places that make them, and if you access to the internet and a printer you can make one online and print afterwards. There are keys things to consider when you design your business cards, one being your name, contact information, title of the book, and ISBN#. These things have to be on the cards, and they have to be in legible writing. Another thing to take with you is a copy of your book, now you don’t have to give them a copy though many do. However you do need one to show them the quality of the books and that they are ready for sale. Besides isn’t seeing something better than just hearing about it. Take cookies as an example, hearing about one is fine, but smelling them, touching them and tasting them is better.

Now that you have a basic press kit, dress nice or in character such as if its a pirate book, wearing a flowing skirt or men wear a ruffled shirt. Just remember first impressions do count and more than likely mean the most when you ask for that all important interview. Also don’t be afraid to ask for a book signing these are great incentives, plus gives you a chance to talk to the reader about your newest creation.

I guess the one other thing to remember is have fun, you have fulfilled a life long dream.

What Does A Ghost Writer Do

Posted on Apr 24, 2009 11:23:54 AM

It’s important to keep in mind, that not all ghost writers are skilled in all kinds of writing. Many times, ghost writers earn a quite a nice salary do something they love, which is writing. Ghost writers are more common than you think. Of course, not all people who use ghost writers are going to create books. Ghost writers are no new phenomenon. Ghost writers are drawn from those vast majority writers who do not have big book contracts of their own. In many countries, academic thesis ghost writers are a major industry, providing a nice income for students writing for senior executives. Anyway, ghost writers are also sometimes useful but what is surprising in this case is why so much of prominence was given to his “point of view”.

What Kinds of People Hire Ghost Writers? Many people hire ghost writers, from owners of businesses, college students and the average joe in the street. They may have fantastic stories to tell, but they don’t have the enormous amount of financial capital available to hire any such expensive ghost writers. I’m sure you already know by now that many big companies obviously hire ghost writers to do the job of their website. You can hire ghost writers on an hourly basis or for a flat fee, depending on the scope of the project. There are many places where you can find ghost writer, Elance is a great resource and so is Rent A Coder. Just hire some ghost writers to do the work of writing for you. One thing to keep in mind is that you don’t know who writes the material you see, many people hire ghost writers and all the time. Another alternative is to hire ghost writers to produce content specifically for you.

Legitimate book doctors, freelance editors, ghost writers and other professionals exist in publishing. You can also use freelance writers as ghost writers. You don’t have to write full-time to be a freelance writer, and most don’t. Ghostwriters exist in every genre to help with polishing a book, article, speech or writing a corporate publication. You can easily find writers that will write good articles for you by doing a search for freelance writers or ghost writers on the internet. The internet is a great place to outsource your online writing workload.

It’s often hard to tell what ghost writer is going to be good or not. Look at some of the jobs the ghostwriter has done to get a feel of what his/her writing style is like. The best ghost writers are wanted to work for super affiliates to help them sustain there businesses. Ghostwriters are very important to businesses; they help without being an employee or needed to pay for benefits. If you are looking for a ghostwriter make sure you check their credentials to be sure they will do the work for you that are needed.

How Can A Website Help Your Business?

Posted on Apr 23, 2009 04:07:51 PM

Maybe you are looking around for new ways to advertise your work, whether it’s a book, freelance writing, new software program, or possibly crafts, a website may be just what you need. A website can get the word out about your product. You can use it to write a simple Blog about you and your product or a full article about how you can help someone else.

There are many ways to set up your website from simple WYSIWYG, to more advanced HTML graphics, however what way you decide you will find the right one for you. The basic WYSIWYG is the easiest to use and have many basic templates preset for you to use. These templates are designed to get the most space per page without slowing the loading process down. You will find different colors and layouts, where you can have photos on different parts of the page and the writing from above, to below, or even on both sides of the picture. The pictures themselves can range from ones included in the templates, to your own personal pictures, so be creative and have fun designing that special web page hassle free.

The more advanced web site builders use different styles and products, one being the HTML page. HTML can be extremely hard unless you have had previous experience or courses. However, our friends at Microsoft have come up with Open Office Document. In this program accompanying the Microsoft Word, Works, and Suites you will find a simple and elegant way to build your web pages off line. There are a multitude of templates, backgrounds, designs and more. Another great aspect is that you can set you pages up completely off line linking them together, so when the time comes to publish your web pages you are only a few clicks away.

There are several other programs available and most websites will have some kind of page builder included. No matter which way you decide to go you will find an exciting way to get your news out to the Internet world.

What Is Freelance Magazine Writing?

Posted on Apr 22, 2009 07:10:51 PM

Freelance magazine writing can be one of the most rewarding careers available to a freelance writer. Successful magazine writers are articulate, have a wide variety of interests, and know how to research a topic. Many freelance magazine writers write for various magazines, not just one, and like to write on diverse topics and sell their articles to a variety of magazines and media outlets.

The key to writing for magazines and selling what you write is knowing your market. Most magazines focus on a fairly narrow range of content. One magazine might deal with the finer points of horse grooming. Another magazine might focus on the ins and outs of toy robot collection. And yet another might cover the beauties and travel opportunities available in Bali.

This degree of specialization means that magazine editors usually have a specific idea of what articles they’re seeking, sometimes even down to a specific writing style or voice. Since magazines typically cater to a “niche” audience of educated readers, you’ll need to write well-written and interesting articles; your articles will have to feel new to an established audience. If you’re writing for a parasailing magazine, then submitting a 500-word article about the basics of parasailing just won’t do.

You have two options to write salable articles. The first is to become deeply involved with the activities or topics which the magazine covers. If you’re planning to write and sell travel articles about Germany, take at least one trip to Germany. If you’re planning to write and sell articles about cat care, spend a few days with a cat yourself (or find a knowledgeable, cat-owning friend who’s willing to give you some good, real-life information).

Writing magazine articles is a form of journalism, and often adheres to the same standards of quality and truthfulness. Would you trust a news article about declining air and water standards in a nearby town if you could tell the writer had never set foot in that town? Of course not.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t have time to take on an entirely new hobby. That’s why the second way is usually the best option: write about what you know. We’re all complicated people. We all have stories to tell. We enjoy hobbies and activities that fascinate us. We can easily uncover material for a hundred or more articles. So think about what you can write about, and what interests you. It seems hard at first, but once you sit down and start thinking about it, the article ideas will flow. Once you have your article ideas and have written articles about what you know, start looking around for magazines that might be willing to buy them. Chances are good there’s a magazine covering your interests or hobbies.

How do you find suitable magazines, and how do you ask if editors are interested? There are many ways to find appropriate publishing venues for your articles. For one, you could go to your local bookstore and search the magazine racks. If you have an independent bookstore in your area, so much the better: you may find some titles that don’t circulate at the larger chains. You can also take advantage of Writer’s Market, which list pertinent information about hundreds of magazines, including typical rates and what editors seek.

Once you’ve picked your magazine, send the editor a query letter about your article. This should be short and sweet, briefly stating who you are, your previous publication history (editors like to work with proven successes–wouldn’t you?), and your article topic. The length, topic and addressee of your query letter will depend on the magazine; you can usually find information on submissions policies in the “credits” section or on the magazine’s website.

Send off your query letter and wait. Be prepared, as well, for rejection. There are many reasons editors won’t take an article, and few of them have to do with your skills as a writer. If you get a rejection letter, just take a few minutes to mourn before starting on your next article. The hardest sale to make is always your first sale; keep up a steady stream of good, well-marketed work, and the sale will come. When it does, pat yourself on the back; you’re on your way to freelancing as a magazine writer!

New Technical Writer: Have No Fear Of Writing

Posted on Apr 20, 2009 02:12:12 PM

OVERVIEW

You’re a non-writer who has just been assigned to write the User Documentation for your company’s new product. Your overwhelming emotion is fear, perhaps with some anger.

With any new activity there will be some anxiety. Writing may have added anxiety because of your writing experience while you were a student.

Writing User Documentation is not like the writing that you had to do in school. Those activities were filled with anxiety and “writer’s block.” In this article you will see how to overcome your writing anxieties so you can write a good User Document.

WHAT YOU’RE NOT WRITING

All writing and writing situations are not the same. Let’s differentiate writing a User Document from other types of writing and writing situations.

YOU’RE NOT WRITING A NOVEL

You don’t have to worry about a plot, characters, and techniques to make the writing flow. You do not have to worry about transitions from one section to another; you don’t have to worry about continuity. It is extremely rare for your Reader to read a User Document from start to finish; Readers usually only look up the information that they need at the time.

YOU’RE NOT ARGUING A POINT

You don’t have to determine a point to argue, think up arguments to support that point, and then convincingly present the arguments.

YOU’RE NOT WRITING A LABORATORY REPORT

While lab reports provided a structure for writing, it was usually over-restrictive and those doing the grading were very picky regarding that format and structure.

YOUR SCHOOL-WRITING EXPERIENCES

At the end of your school writing exercise there was a critic (your teacher). Your goal was to impress him/her with your writing, all the time being extremely careful to write grammatically, and follow the prescribed structure. Later we will get a “critic” (editor) to be on your side in the writing project.

Writing a User Document is Different. The team is on your side. (I am ignoring office politics.) Everyone wants to have a successful product, and good User Documentation is part of a good product.

Remember that other members of the team are human, also. They have their tasks to complete, and would probably prefer not to have to answer your questions. Be prepared (read background info, etc) before you ask questions.

STRUCTURE MAKES WRITING EASIER

The overall structure of the User Document will follow the interaction between the User and the product. Within that structure you will write components…pieces of the User Document, each dealing with a specific topic. Each component will have a defined structure: overview/background, the actual material, and additional information.

One benefit of working this way is that you will not be concerned with “writer’s block.” The primary cause of writer’s block is having making decisions (“what should I say here?”). An effective writing structure eliminates most decisions, and reduces your writing task to almost “fill in the blanks.”

In fact, some experienced writers find it difficult to write in a modular environment. They are concerned with writing elegant transitions from one section to another. You do not need to do this…you can write each component totally independently of the others.

Your task is to clearly provide the information that your reader needs, and make that information easily accessible to him/her.

You must cultivate an attitude of compassion for your Readers.

YOU NEED RESOURCES FOR SUCCESS

Whoever assigned you the writing project (your “patron”) is responsible for your success. Your patron should provide resources to assist you. One of the most important resources is an editor.

EDITOR

Your editor (if hired early in the project) can help you over many writing difficulties. For example, your editor can help you with wording problems as you write. Consult with your editor as you are creating the User Document…not just at the end.

Your editor is not your critic!

Your editor will reduce your worries about grammar and wording. Your editor is on your side; he/she is not an adversary or someone you have to impress (like your school teachers). Your editor can help you produce a good User Document.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Your patron should enable you to have access to the product developers, information about the product (a mockup of the product, marketing information, assumptions about the Users of the product), and the industry.

TIME AND PHYSICAL RESOURCES

You need time to do a good job, and the physical resources to get it done.

If you are in a hurry, and if you do not know any of the current fancy authoring tools and content management systems, do not bother with learning them.

Instead, investigate what your word processor will do. Can it be made to create PDF, HTML, RTF or text files? If so, then it is a fine candidate for this project. Learn how to use its basic capabilities, especially its concept of formatting “styles.”

TRAINING/GUIDANCE

Typically, documentation is started late in the project’s life cycle. As a result, the documentation production is always rushed. Taking a live writing course may be out of the question: there will be scheduling problems, and you will be away from the writing task while you are being trained.

A better alternative might be to take a computer-based course that guides you through the writing, and supports you via e-mail. Visit the links in the “Resources” or “About the Author” section of this article.

YOU NEED A WRITING METHOD

To simply gather the required information, produce an outline that gets approved, and go off to write the document, is a recipe for high-stress and possible failure. It’s high stress because at the end of your writing, you get everything evaluated at once. There is the fear of failure. Fundamental errors could result in a major re-write. Aaaargh!

Consider writing components (modules, pieces) of your document. Let a component sit for a while, review it, and then circulate it for review. This way you will know that you are on track early in the project.

Since components will usually be short and focused on a particular topic, your reviewers will actually have the time to read and comment on your components. Just providing a complete, massive document at the end of the project will discourage your reviewers from effectively evaluating the material.

Writing and having reviewed small chunks of text (as opposed to creating the entire document, and then having it reviewed) helps reduce your stress, enabling you to do a better job.

Recall a skill that you have learned. It may be driving a car, riding a bicycle, or solving differential equations. Remember how you got more comfortable as you worked at it. It is the same with writing your User Document in components. The first few components will be high-stress, since you are new to the process.

As you write and have your components reviewed, you will become comfortable with the process. The later writing will go faster and better because of the reduced stress. Your review team will know where you are in the writing process; they will see each component as you release it.

Contrast this with writing the entire document and then having it reviewed. Here the stress builds to a maximum at the hand-in and evaluation time. You never know — until the end — if you’ve made a fundamental mistake.

DEALING WITH REVIEWS OF YOUR WRITING

You will have each component reviewed by others on the product project. Consider their suggestions and criticisms of your writing. However try to leave your ego out of the equation. If a reviewer says “you got this wrong,” you should hear “this is incorrect.” Ask what is incorrect, and get the correct information. Correct the inaccuracies. Don’t be defensive.

If you can overcome your fear of criticism, you will be able to write more and write better. This fear will diminish as you produce (and have reviewed) each of the components.

Learn as much as you can about the product, its environment, and Users. If you are expected to be an expert and are not one, then use the excuse for any naive questions you may ask: “I am just simulating our product’s Users with this question.” (Use this technique sparingly.)

TWO MORE POINTS

Nobody writes the perfect User Document. Don’t strive for perfection. Doing so will prevent you from getting anything done.

Read. Read all sorts of published materials, especially other User Documents (especially for products similar to the one you are writing about). Learn from that writing. Be critical of it from the USER’s point of view.

FIRST THINGS TO DO

Learn as much as you can about the product that you have to write about, its users, and the product’s environment, before you ask questions (other than where to get information).

Visit the links in the “Resources” or “About the Author” section of this article. There you will find articles and resources to help you through this exciting task.