Some of the top online articles writers on the top online article submission website have been discussing that they are writing articles in their sleep. Actually as funny as this sounds, I do write articles in my sleep. Well not the whole article but I dream as if I am typing it or putting it into a word processor.

Could this give one author the edge over another high-volume online article writer? Sure it can, but the trick is to keep a clipboard by your bed to write down the titles of the subjects. What you need to do is when lucid dreaming, when you wake write down the title or subject on your clipboard. Otherwise you might have four or five per night and if you do not write them down then you will temporarily forget them until something reminds you during the day, but that could take even a week. You need to write down the ideas so you can use them in the conscious mind you see.

I wonder if this happens to other people, but I have had full dreams of writing complete articles, editing, typing, re-sizing titles, changing fonts, etc. Maybe this does not happen to everyone, but I guess I write a lot of articles or something like this. Pretty funny stuff really, science is still learning about the brain, I have written some articles on this and for more information check out the Stanford Sleep Research Center. Consider all this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Making sure you have enough space to store your things should be a primary consideration when you put your bedroom together. Being the place you sleep it’s a good idea to make your bedroom as comfortable as possible. Work from the bottom up making sure you get the carpet right first, the carpet will have a huge influence on the overall feel of the room. Before deciding on a particular carpet, perhaps not kitchen carpet tiles – you should consider what kind of style and feel you are trying to create. If you are having a clear-out make the most of the opportunity to dispose of as much of your clutter as possible.

Once you have chosen a suitable carpet you should also have a think about the ceiling. If the majority of people don’t think about the importance of selecting the right carpet, nearly everyone overlooks the possibilities of adding colour to your ceiling. implemented correctly colour on the ceiling can breathe new life into a room, darker tones can add warmth and depth. Darker tones can make smaller rooms have a claustrophobic feel, however on the other hand can make bigger rooms feel much more cosy. Ensuring your bedroom is correctly lit can also influence the way a room feels. It’s a well known fact that humans react physiologically to varying levels of light, brighter more intense lighting is likely to have the effect of keeping people more alert and energetic. Dimmer light is likely to conjure a more tranquil feeling and make you feel more relaxed. If you are installing lighting in your bedroom it’s a good idea to install a dimmer switch as they are cheap and quite easy to install. Energy saving light bulbs are also a great idea as they usually last much longer that normal light bulbs and on top of that they save you money and are good for the environment.

Having experimented with a few ways of structuring and writing novels, gleaned from reading books and implementing strategies, I’ve concluded that outlining is helpful and does pay off.

You have to have a sense of what your story is and where it is going. If you are writing a mystery or romance novel, for example, you have a good idea of who the detective and killer are in a mystery and who wins in the end. Likewise, in a romance novel, you know if the guy will get the girl, or whether the girl gets the guy.

There are other examples too. In westerns and science fiction, you probably begin with one or more bad guys and good guys and can easily determine the outcome. And to a lesser, “iffier” extent, you can pretty much determine the outcome in chic lit.

Developing an outline for the genres mentioned above is not really that difficult, so long as you have a good story and an interesting twist.

On the other hand, if you only know, for example, that you want to write a humorous novel, you may have a bit of a challenge on your hands. You have to determine who the hero or heroine is, the main problem and theme, and the outcome. And you have to combine those elements in an interesting, funny way right from the get-go. For example, in the movie, “What About Bob?” you are almost introduced immediately to the two main characters, Bob, who has a problem, and his newly-appointed psychiatrist, who gets stuck with Bob at the last minute, right before vacation. And while the psychiatrist really wants no part of Bob, Bob wants him to be available at his beck and call.

If you thought about writing a story about a psychiatrist and his or her patient, you could try outlining your story’s development or sequence or completing a few character sketches first. As you worked, however, you would soon discover that the story’s details keep changing, and if you change a few things in the beginning, you’ve virtually changed your entire plot, and have to go back to square one.

I also tried character sketches and outlines, working several months with each, but never quite managed to kick off a good plot. What I do now, and have some success with, is go right back to the basics and first figure out the beginning and end of my story. For example, in the end of my present novel-in-progress, I know that my main character, a laid-back, good-for-nothing, ex-mobster of a grubber, will overcome his problems of getting a decent income in the end. All I have to do now is figure out how he’s going to overcome everything and everyone who stands in his way and reach his goal. I was ready to outline and am now up to Chapter 14. I know where I’ve been in this novel and where this novel is going, saving myself months of work and aggravation and frustration.

The moral is that if you know exactly how your novel ends, you will find that outlining the rest of it is highly effective, especially when you keep asking yourself, “And then what?”

To help herself and others overcome the fear of getting ideas and developing them into articles and stories, Dorothy Zjawin’s writing website, http://www.profitable-pen.com focuses on using journals to jumpstart those larger writing projects.

There is one thing in this world that there is no getting around. Everybody thinks they can be a star, or at least wants to be, whether it’s as a singer, songwriter, actor, ball player or circus clown. It doesn’t matter how much talent we have or don’t have. We all believe there is something we can do that is of a creative nature that can make us famous. Writing is one of those things.

Take a journey to the local library or book store. There are more books about more things than you can possibly imagine. Everyone’s got an opinion on something and many of these people have put their opinions into print. Aside from opinions, people also write about facts. Think of how many biographies their are. Many of the topics overlap. There are a number of different biographies on people like John F. Kennedy, all written by different authors. So what is it that makes all of these books different? It is one thing, and it is the most important thing if you are going to be a writer.

It’s called being yourself.

There was an episode of MASH where Radar took a creative writing course. He started using all these fancy words that he had never used before. When Potter began to read the daily reports he noticed that they sounded a bit odd. When he questioned Radar, he told Potter that he was taking a creative writing course. Potter smelled the scam. Eventually, Potter had enough of the daily reports that sounded like a bad novel and told Radar to can it. When Radar asked him what he thought of his writing personally, Potter told him he didn’t think much of it. He said it sounded like he had swallowed a dictionary, that none of that sounded like him. Radar then told Potter that he was just doing what the book told him, to which Potter replied, “Son, the first thing about being a good writer is to be yourself”.

So just what is being yourself? It means to write what you feel, how you think and not what you believe you’re supposed to feel and think like. If you are thinking of writing a book and are very much interested in gardening but have no interest at all in mysteries and somebody tells you that you’ll make a lot more money writing a good mystery, it would be pointless for you to even try. Why? Because having no knowledge or interest in the material you would only be writing what you think the mystery should be written like and most likely will end up copying from other mysteries. The end result will be predictable and not very well written.

As for writing styles themselves, let’s say you do like mysteries. Don’t try to write like Agatha Christie, unless you have a similar style. Write how YOU want to write. Yes, we all want to make money and we think that if we copy a popular style that we’ll be successful. The truth is, the writing will come out as forced and the end result will not be anywhere near as good as the source you copied from.

Being yourself, while logically should come easy, is sometimes the hardest thing to do, especially if you have never written before. You don’t have a clue what’s going to come out, if it will be good or bad. That’s okay. But tapping into your inner resources you will find out what is inside of you. What is good you can use and what isn’t good you can improve upon or discard.

If the talent is there, you will find it.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Writing Tips

Do you love to write? Do you have a knack for making words come alive on a page? You may want to consider freelance writing as a way to make a good living from home.

Freelance writers write anything from newspaper columns to web content and even ebooks.

Getting Started

Before you go looking for freelance jobs, you should build up a portfolio of articles. You can write for your own website or blog, offer to write free articles for friends, or contact your local paper about writing a column for them. Work on some articles that you can use as samples of your work and build a list of references for your potential clients to contact.

Where To Find Work

The next step will be finding potential clients. You can visit some of the big freelance sites like elance and bid on projects. It is also a good idea to set up a website that showcases some of your writing, tells a little about you and your area of expertise, and of course you will have your contact information on the site. You may also want to consider adding a blog to your site. It’s an easy way to add articles, short tips and any other writings to your site on an ongoing basis.

Networking is another great way to find work. Think about friends, former colleagues, bosses and clients that would be interested in having some writing done and call them up. As you start building your own client base, ask for referrals. Do you know someone that successfully freelances now? Ask them for advice on getting started and spend some time with them. They may refer clients to you that they don’t have time for. Do the same for other freelancers if you are contacted with a project you can’t handle.

Many magazines will accept freelance work. Keep a spreadsheet with names and addresses of the editors of the various publications and pitch story ideas on a regular basis. It can be tough to get a foot in the door with magazines, but once you start getting published it will become easier and in many cases more lucrative.

Getting Paid

How much you will get paid will largely depend on the size of the project and how involved it is. Short articles on general topics that don’t require research may pay as little as $5.00 a piece while doing research for and writing an ebook may bring you several hundred dollars.

If you love writing about a variety of topics, I encourage you to give freelance writing a try. It’s a great way to do what you love and stay home with the kids at the same time. The main key to becoming a successful freelance writer is to practice writing all the time, whether you get paid for it or not. Just get out a pen and paper, or open you favorite text editor and start writing.

A very renowned poker player (I forget who, I think it was Doyle Brunson) once said that Ace-Queen in Texas hold em is a hand for suckers at the casino. I agree. Many beginning, or just plan mediocre, pokerplayers think it’s a huge hand. No doubt it is good, but too many people call gig raises with A-Q, and the person raising often has A-k, or a big pocket pair, like 10-1- or above. Even against 10-10 you’re still behind in the hand.

I was playing online poker recently and was dealt KK in the small blind. I made a nice sized raise and everyone folded and some guy reraised me all-in. well, he was a short stack and it didn’t cost too much more, so I called. If he had AA, well then, what can you do?

He in fact had A-Q. I was way ahead in the hand and was ecstatic. I also wondered why would this guy risk all his chips on A-Q offsuit?

Well, the flop came 10-2-Q, so I’m still feeling very comfortable. The turn brings a seven, still all good. Of course the flop brings up another dreaded queen, and I lose. I didn’t mind too much since it wasn’t a huge pot. But it annoyed me. This guy got lucky this one time, but if you play like that all the time, you will lose money in the long run. Keep that in mind.

We all like being creative. Our busy schedule hardly gives us any time to spent time with our self’s. Constant focus on work makes our life dull. One of the best ways to make your life colorful is by doing some painting in your spare time. A Painting Book consists of some beautiful and decorative paintings. If you are an artist it will definitely help your cause.

Today you can find many painting book outlets providing some wonderful painting books. If you would like to learn painting you can find a painting book that meets your cause. There are books for beginners that provide step by step guidance of different aspects of painting. These books also provide you with some useful information about color mixing. Painting books are also available for advanced artist. These painting books are highly advanced and drive the artist to new world of creativity.

Painting can be of different types. There are books designed specially for a specific type of painting. A person interested in face painting can find a book specially designed for painting a face. Similarly, a person interested in learning house painting can find a painting book as per his choice. Painting books are also available on tole painting and oil painting. These specially designed books provide various tips and guidelines and train a person into a professional artist.

Isabella Rodrigues writes for painting-books.info, offering the latest information on painting books, visit them today and get the latest information on painting.

Visit today: http://www.painting-books.info

WIth so many darn home gyms on the market place and abundance of advertizing how in the world is a person suppose to resolve what home gym to purchase. If you are anything like me you have probably purchased whatever craze products believing that you will utilize them, merely to realize that you have just purchased a machine to perch your dirty clothes on. I’ve discovered the hard way that someone should see for particular characteristics. The first one I will speak about in this series is durability.

It is true that the choice as well as variety in home gyms is nearly too much to handle. I can sure understand why people might just think to purchase whatever piece of home gym equipment is advertized or seems good. For Certain, aesthetics is part of how someone may choose a home gym. Notwithstanding, looks ought to be the least criteria to use.

Home gyms come different sizes. However, when searching at home gyms I believe the number 1 criteria ought to be durability. If a gym is not durable then, of course, you will discover yourself in the marketplace for a new home gym soon after buying the original. Yet, even worse is the fact that psychologically when you are working out you recognize the gym is fragile and subconsciously ease up on working out with intensity. Intensity is a crucial element in having a superb workout.

Thence, the strategic criteria to seek out when picking out home gym equipment is durability. There are umpteen home gyms purposely produced not to last. The price might be tempting, however, if it breaks after just a few usages then it is money lost

I’ve been writing articles and stories on the Internet for a couple of years now and I’ve come to realize that there’s something very wrong with current article submission sites. If you write articles for Newspapers or magazines you will have noticed that most of the stories have photographs or pictures accompanying the text. It adds a whole dimension to the story, piquing interest in the words that may have otherwise been skimmed over and ignored as just being another of an infinite number of articles. Extremely valuable information could be lost to our consciousness, and to our community on the Internet. Pictures have been used in the ‘paper’ for decades, if not centuries. We’ve come to expect an exciting aesthetic presence when something new and interesting is presented to society. So, why is it that this area of the most modern medium for the written word doesn’t allow images?

My company submits my articles to over one hundred article repository sites around the Internet. Recently I started to work in a collaborative effort with a graphic designer who drew up both comics and Flash animations to go with the stories. It’s remarkable to say that only a fifth of the sites would accept an image with the piece, while only a twentieth would allow the Flash animation to be used. This could be considered as an outrage. Personally, I have to admit that I simply judge it as a sign that the World Wide Web is in many ways still an infant, or better yet, an unborn pregnancy.

Why do the article submission sites have a problem with having images in the text? Could it be that they worry too much about the cost of added disc-space and bandwidth needed to upload the pictures? I don’t know but if you are reading this I urge you that if you want people to come and visit your site repeatedly, you have to make it worthwhile. Content is the most important aspect of the Internet, but people do get tired of looking at boring pages filled with only text. Imagine buying a magazine these days that only has words, photos and pictures having been deleted for the sake of experiment. No one would want it, I mean, half the time it’s the pictures that you’re searching for in the first place, or they’re what inspire you to read a specific story, while ignoring others.

If you are a webmaster of an article submission site, please go to http://www.blog.m6.net and leave a comment so that I can know why when it comes to publishing my works, we are still living in the ‘ancient’ past.

By Jesse S. Somer
http://www.m6.net
Jesse S. Somer knows that a picture speaks a thousand words. So, please let us put pictures in our Internet articles!

Jesse S. Somer is a creative writer working at M6.Net: ‘The web-hosting company for humans.’ M6.Net is working hard to help humanity experience the power and freedom to develop their own part of the Internet, to share their information and connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Effective advertising is an extremely valuable skill that every freelance writer needs to possess. More so online where there is growing competition from all over the world.

Many times a freelance writer based in the United States or somewhere in Europe will find that they have to compete with a writer from another part of the world. Quite often living costs in that particular part of the world may be substantially lower. This means that the freelance writer from there can easily get away with advertising their services at a fraction of your rates and still live like a king.

The Freelance Writer Should Make Use of Online Advertising Tools
If you read the early history of Google, you will notice that their search engine became a big success without any offline advertising. To this day when Google is a $100 billion company, the founders and senior management do not believe in offline advertising.

Actually there are enough tools online to enable any business or service to quietly advertise their services. In advertising their services, freelance writers should take full advantage of them. For instance they can ask for referrals from satisfied clients or they can set up a blog to showcase the effectiveness of their work. You really can’t find advertising for a freelance writer that is more powerful and effective than actually showing the impact of your work on the profitability and success of your clients.

Successful Freelance Writers Are Always Advertising Their Services
Once a freelance writer has designed their advertising strategy, they should constantly use it to generate a steady flow of leads. It is from these leads that they will be able to get actual clients on an ongoing basis.

Effective advertising for freelance writers is an increasingly important skill that is badly required as competition online continues to increase in leaps and bounds.

Christopher Kyalo is a successful online entrepreneur and publisher. Read the other parts of this article at his self publisher blog.