Just Until Payday

Sometimes learning just a few more “tricks of the trade” can take your
writing to a higher level. Try these five easy tips to instantly improve your
fiction. Some of these will work for nonfiction, too.

1. Weed out modifiers. Use strong verbs instead. Modifiers are words
like – very, much, fairly, really, just, so, some.

Don’t write “Jane ran very quickly to the store,” when you can write,
“Jane raced to the store.”

Don’t write “Mark spoke very quietly to his brother,” when you can write
“Mark whispered to his brother.”

Use strong verbs and you won’t need modifiers.

2. Look for compound verbs that tend to slow down the action and
distance the reader from what is happening. Change these compound
verbs to simple verbs. Here are some examples:

Mary HAD BEEN CLIMBING the tree.

Mary CLIMBED the tree.

John BEGAN TO SHOUT at me.

John SHOUTED at me.

Every day Jenny WOULD WASH her hair.

Jenny WASHED her hair daily.

Sandy STARTED TO SMILE.

Sandy SMILED.

3. Raise the stakes for your point-of-view character. If your story seems
to be lacking dramatic tension and rising action, that’s usually because
things aren’t difficult enough for your main character. Raise the stakes
by making it more difficult for him to attain his goal, and give him more to
lose if he fails to attain it.

You can also create a greater since of urgency, and therefore more
dramatic tension, by creating a tight deadline for your main character. If
he needs to raise some money for a big business deal, for example,
give him just three days to get the money before the deal is no longer
available.

4. Limit the number of sentences that begin with a participle phrase (a
participle phrase contains a verb that ends in the letters -ing). Here are a
couple of sentences that begin with a participle phrase:

SKIPPING THROUGH THE FOREST, she found her brother.

RUNNING FOR COVER, he took a dive into the grass.

There isn’t anything wrong with using a participle phrase to begin a
sentence. But beginning writers tend to overuse them. Look back over
your story. If more than two or three sentences begin with a participle
phrase, delete all but two of them.

5. Avoid over describing actions or characters in dialogue tags.
Dialogue tags are used to let the reader know who is speaking. These
tags can also include a short description of what the character is doing
as he speaks. But be careful. Don’t overload the descriptive part of the
tag. Your writing will be stronger if you use short tags and describe what
the speaker is doing in a separate sentence.

Here is dialogue with an overworked tag:

“Hand me that money,” John said angrily to Mary as she pulled a five
dollar bill out of her purse and held it in front of him.

Here is a shorter, stronger tag with the description written in a separate
sentence:

“Give me that!” John demanded. He snatched a five dollar bill from
Mary’s hand.

Each time you write a story, go back over it with these five tips in mind. If
you do, you’ll instantly improve your fiction.

Suzanne Lieurance is a children’s author, freelance writer, and a writing
teacher and writing mentor. See her books and find out more about her
online workshops and mentoring at http://www.suzannelieurance.com or
find out more about her freelance writing cooperative at http://www.lieurancegroup.blogspot.com.

If you owe taxes that you can’t afford to pay, and you get a letter from the IRS threatening IRS garnishment of your wages, bank, or investment accounts, what do you do? Can you avoid having the IRS take money out of your other funds (presuming, that is, that you have any)?

The first and most important response in order to avoid indiscriminate IRS garnishment is NOT to stick your head in the sand or hide under your bed. Take a deep breath. Then commit to calling the IRS within 24 to 48 hours of receiving the letter. Sit down with a pad and paper and write out your questions. Once you call them about the threat of IRS garnishment, you will be surprised at how compassionate and helpful the agents can be. [If you don't get this kind of response, politely excuse yourself from the phone call and call back until you get a kinder agent most of them truly are helpful these days.]

Before you call, go to the IRS Web site and do a search on IRS garnishment and see what your options are if you can’t afford to pay your taxes. There is a wealth of information that may immediately help you feel more hopeful about your situation.

Recognize that you don’t have to have all the answers or make a decision right away. On your first phone call to the IRS, your objective should be to simply respond to their letter and to obtain more information about the IRS garnishment process and what your options are.

There are several financially modest ways to consult with a Philadelphia attorney to ask how you can avoid IRS garnishment. Contact your local legal aid office. Call the Philadelphia Bar Association’s referral service. They can give you the name of a participating tax attorney that will give you the first half hour of consultation for $25 to $50.

Whatever the outcome happens to be, whether you avoid IRS garnishment or not, you must remain in control of this most challenging situation to have any chance at a happy ending.

[From our deconstruction of hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters and sitcoms at www.clickok.co.uk and our isolation and identification of more than 188 stages of the Hero's Journey that you need to know about...]

The Hero’s Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the Hollywood movies we have deconstructed are based on this template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.

The Hero’s Journey:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Interpreted metaphorically, laterally and symbolically, allows an infinite number of varied stories to be created.

and more…

The Hero’s Journey: Tsotsi (2005) deconstructed [basic]

FADE IN: Ordinary World: Tsotsi et al playing dice.

Developing characters and relationships: 4+5=9

Meeting the Hero: Tsotsi turns around.

Ordinary World: in the townships.

Hero’s Status: Tsotsi leading the pack.

Hero’s Capabilities: small time gangsta.

Foreshadow of the Mentor: foreshadow of the Mentor: the old man in the subway station.

Inciting Incident: watching the old man in the station, following him onto the train, mugging and killing him.

Resisting / Repelled by the Inciting Incident: being sick.

Call to Adventure: Teacher Boy talks about decency; what is your name; does anything hurt you like that.

Meeting the Shape Shifter: the bar owner woman.

Warning of the Refusal: no trouble in my place.

Refusal: Tsotsi beats up Teacher Boy.

Pushed out of his Ordinary World: tell that bastard never to come here again.

Leaving the Ordinary World in haste: Tsotsi running.

Hero’s Backstory: Tsotsi running as a child.

Physical Change: his hands.

Hero’s Backstory: in the cylinders with his mother.

Pulled to the First Threshold: Tsotsi takes the car; shoots the mother.

Driving into the unknown: the dark night.

Resisting the First Threshold: trying to ignore the baby.

Conscious Decision / Physical Marker: taking the baby.

Antagonism / Pursued: the cops find the abandoned car.

Outer Cave / Fish out of Water: waking up with the baby.

Middle Cave / Meeting Allies and Enemies: the boys knock.

Meeting the Romantic Challenge: seeing the woman with the baby.

Antagonism / Pursued: the husband doesn’t want excuses.

Developing the Shape Shifter and the Fool / Beginning of the divergence: outside “something fishy,” where is he; fuck him.

Meeting the Mentor: the old man spits on Tsotsi.

Mentor’s Ordinary World: the old man talks with the newspaper seller.

Pulled Forward by the Mentor: following the old man.

Hero / Mentor interaction: under the bridge.

Magical Gift: why do you go on?

Journey: on the tracks.

Chance of a New Day / World / Opportunity / Self: sunrise in the township.

Foreshadow of the Romantic Challenge: seeing the mother in the street.

Push to the Inner Cave: the baby has ants all over it; needs feeding.

Journey to the Inner Cave: following the mother.

Inner Cave: in the mothers apartment; making her feed the baby.

Developing the Romantic Challenge: attracted to the breasts.

Romantic Challenge’s backstory: it was sad; you were happy.

Antagonism / Pursued: the shot woman wants her baby back.

Hero’s Backstory / Romantic Challenge: the mother reminds Tsotsi of his own mother.

Leaving the Inner Cave / Between Worlds: tell anyone and I’ll kill you.

Ordinary World: walking through the township.

Refusing the Transformation / Foreshadow of the Shape Shifter: that’s not Tsotsi, he can’t drive.

Pushed Forward: Teacher Boy talking about Decency with the Fela.

Resisting the Transformation: fuck decency.

Characters and Relationships: anytime you need someone.

Hero’s Backstory: Tsotsi thinking of his mother, father, the dog.

Foreshadow of the Separation: Aap knocks on the door.

Forced to the Belly of the Whale: taking the baby to the Cylinder Children.

Physical Separation: Tsotsi tells the woman the truth that he is not the father; getting to know her backstory; she wants to keep the baby.

Resisting the Transformation: it better be here when I get back; I don’t want your money.

Trial and Transformation 1:

• Teacher Boy being cared for.

• Tsotsi persuades him to go to his place.

• Teacher Boy at Tsotsi’s place.

• Resisting: the boys laugh.

• Transformation: you need to pass your exam.

Push to Trial 2: you need money; we’re doing a job.

Trial and Transformation 2:

• Outside the house / What are we doing here?

• Following the car inside; holding the father hostage.

• Asking for the Safe; lets kill him; preventing the killing.

• Resisting: what’s going on with you.

• Push to the Transformation: the alarm.

• The bag full of baby things; killing the killer.

Resisting Trial 3: Aap doesn’t want to get in the car.

Trial 3: selling the car for money.

Separation: Aap leaves.

Goodbye to the Old World: Tsotsi gives him some money.

Transformation: can I come in please.

Seizing the Sword: being fed; giving the money.

Pushed to the Atonement: you have to give the baby back.

Resisting the Atonement: what does this do; it won’t make you its mother.

Romantic Challenge conquered: can I come back here.

Transformation: saying sorry to teacher Boy.

Shape Shifter revealed: the bar woman calls the cops.

Near Death experience: the cops burst into Tsotsi’s place.

New Self (clothes): Tsotsi in new clothes.

New Self: (behaviour): Tsotsi gives the old man some money.

Goodbye to the Old Self: watching the Cylinder Children.

Romantic Challenge: the mother looks at her baby, potential for a new father.

Journey to the Atonement: walking to the house.

Forced to the Final Conflict: the guard calls the cops.

Atonement: leaving the baby at the door; ringing the buzzer.

Apotheosis: stretching out his arms to give the baby.

Ultimate Boon: surrendering instead of resisting.

Learn more…

The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and other story structure templates can be found at http://www.clickok.co.uk/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

**********************************

You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author’s name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://www.clickok.co.uk/

Motive and emotion are a couple of key elements to any action scene.

One book series that immediately springs to mind when I think about action scenes is the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien. I think most of us will have read the books or seen the movies.

Envision the big battle at the end. Throughout the books the author made it clear why this battle had to be, which makes the reader feel involved in the story. There was a good build-up to the battle and as a reader I have chosen a side I want to win and care about the fate of the characters. This makes for good reading.

It is important for me to know why something is happening. Why are those armies fighting? If I don’t know then I don’t feel that same involvement nor do I really care about the outcome of it all.

The same goes for other action scenes. If I don’t know why person A is chasing person B, why should I care if person A will catch person B? I want to know if person A should catch person B, or if I want person B to escape…

Emotion is important as well. It is crucial to every story that the reader starts to care about the characters they are reading about. This does not mean a story needs to be dramatic, but offering insight into the characters is very important. How do they work? What are their responses to the situations you place them in? What is important to them? What makes them tick? And, too, what are their motives for their actions?

How does an action scene affect them? Portray their emotions. Are they scared? What goes through their minds? What are their physical reactions?

A classic example is a person walking through a dark alley. They hear footsteps behind them… what is their reaction?

If you just write it down as:

Sophie walked through the dark alley. Suddenly, she hears footsteps behind her. She is scared and starts walking a bit faster.

This will not really grip the reader.

Why is Sophie walking through the alley? Is she on her way home from work? Is she cold, taking the short-cut against better judgement? Perhaps she has had a long day at work and is very tired.

What are her responses to the dark alley? What is the dark alley like? Has it been raining, are there the usual litter bins?

Maybe she hears something, is startled and realises that it is just a cat. Only to then hear the sound of footfalls behind her.

It could be that she has good reason to fear those footsteps. It could trigger images in her mind of news articles she read, a past experience or something that happened to someone she knows.

What does she feel will happen?

Perhaps, even, Sophie is not supposed to be in that dark alley. Perhaps she is the person that is up to no good… which puts a whole different spin to that scene and a whole different set of possibilities about her emotions and feelings.

The best advice I can give any author is, “Don’t just tell, show!”

Kit Marsters is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/
which is a site for Writers.

Confident designs, striking colours, the anticipation of the Capitals’ Spring & Summer fashion seasons are fortunately now on its way at long last. Girls & Boys, its the most suitable time to begin obtaining your spring and summer designer items and what better shop to glance through than the Matches Fashion website. Don’t worry if you’re not yet sure what is going to be hip and what is certainly not this forthcoming season. Matches will be constantly there to lead you every single step of the journey in the same great way they persistently do with all their apparel from 1 pieces and pretty spring skirts to flat pumps & shades. Click here to find cutting-edge fashion literally at your fingertips.

From the very start of Feb customers can have one further benefit to assist them get into the superb fashion & this of course is the start of London Fashion Week. This can be of assistance to any person who requires a thrust in the correct direction. Between the 20th till 24th of February the greatest event in fashion will begin and last only one fantastic week. This stylish event allows all “designers” or “houses” as lots of the designers like to call themselves, to exhibit their brands latest designer collection on the stage & for buyers to take a glance at the latest fashions. This is spot on for all the buyers as it lets them to have a glimpse of what is “in” & also what is “out” for the imminent season. So clients should be able to have confidence that Matches Fashion will be there taking down notes of what they will need to procure in order to keep all their customers dressing in this season’s cool fashions The year’s leading fashion occasions are situated in a small number of locations like Milan, Paris, London not to mention New York City.

Several of the major pieces this season are alleged to be by the world famous designers which include Marc Jacobs, Christian Louboutin & Stella McCartney, all of whom customers should know as being renowned in the fashion world. These talented designers persistently create one collection after another collection of amazing clothes for any given occasion. As a consequence though, clothes designed by these designers will absolutely not come with an affordable price tag. However clothes bought from them are expected to be kept in the cupboard for numerous years to come.

A large quantity of new traders can simply get bewildered when the scenario gets to the heart of exchange rate industry jargon, though the insider jargon truly is comparatively unsophisticated. Therefore regardless of whether you are a sole trader or a big company looking to change overseas money; what follows are your simplistic and painless explanations which will with a modicum of luck chase away a little of the mystique and make the oftentimes misunderstood process of earning currency with trading overseas money much more hassle free. Here is a site you can conduct research on should you be looking into buying foreign currency.

Beginning with the most basic of explanations an exchange rate is the particular price at a specific nationalities money can be swapped to another’s. And so, for an example the rate would be the quantity of Afghanistan Afghanis you will acquire in exchange for each particular India Rupee.

Fixed exchange rates are also known by the handle ‘pegged exchange rates’; they are useful to stabilize the current value of a currency; especially when that particular currency is fluctuating heavily; this helps to help out overseas business & investment.

Floating exchange rates – this is when a national currencies exchange rate is set through market forces. This is a more risky way to conduct business but don’t forget this is the situation wherein you might have the chance to turn a profit,

You might well also read talk of animals in currency circles; a bull is an individual who thinks market prices will go up conversely a bear is someone who thinks market values will drop. A bull market is a marketplace where values are actually going upwards and a bear market is the exact opposite – a market where values are moving down.

A currency broker is an individual that acts as a middle man in-between yourself and the market place – they are actually regularly in the position to obtain you the best price at moments when you are looking to buy or conceivably sell.

The dollar rate is the value that one unit of any currency has against a single measure of the US Dollar; this is a useful barometer for a national currencies value.

This is very obviously by no means an exhaustive group of terms – it is merely a starting point; but with a smidgen more studying you might be markedly on your way to becoming a financial expert in no time.

You know how it is. You’re sitting there at your keyboard, and you get the very strong urge for something – anything – to munch on. Other than your pencil.

And usually, because the words are flowing, and you don’t want to break the spell – or the words are trickling out at a snail’s pace and you don’t want to slow them down any farther – you’ll snag the first edible food item in easy reach. Say a candy bar, a bag of chips, some carrot sticks the kids have been carrying around in their lunch boxes and rejecting for a week.

But the truth is, if you chose just a little more carefully, both your stomach and your mind, and okay, your soul – might be more satisfied.

All of these ideas take only a few seconds to prepare or grab.

Feeling a little stressed out? Try a glass of half grapefruit, half cranberry juice. Grapefruit relaxes and stimulates, cranberry helps prevent a host of infections by actually changing your body’s acidity levels.

Need energy fast? It’s probably a protein crash. But before you reach for one of those heavy-on-the-sugar protein bars, try plain yogurt or cottage cheese with a tablespoon of sweet apple butter. You get the protein and the sweet, with less calories and less sugar. The pectin in the apple butter is good for your bones, too.

Feeling under the weather? Time for some vitamin C and the youth enhancing enzymes found only in – blueberries and blackberries. They’re so small and easy to eat, you might almost fool yourself into thinking they’re m and m’s.

And if a sweet tooth is really biting you, okay, give in. Try peanuts, chocolate chips, dried banana slices and dried cranberries or raisins. Go light as you can on the chocolate, and it’s a preservative-free, fruit-rich way to deal with those sugar cravings.

Sick of over-processed peanut butter as a snack? Try chunky almond butter, and dip celery sticks, or hey, even those gnarly left over carrots, in the almond goodness. Warning, you will have to stir it up – the natural almond oils settle to the bottom of the carton.

Now what about that black bean soup?

Open a can of tomato soup. Open a can of black beans. Open a can of corn. Toss the contents of each can into a pot for stove top cooking or a microwave safe container and hit two minutes on the timer.

Open a jar of your favorite salsa – or if you’re really feeling wild, chop up your own tomatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro, and add a pinch of red pepper. You can always mix this up once and refrigerate or freeze it for other times.

Pour soup in a bowl. Plop a little salsa on top. Inhale and consume. It couldn’t be easier, or more filled with protein, vitamins and fiber. You can toss in a few tortilla chips…slice up a lime or an avocado on the side.

This soup isn’t only simple, it really is comfort food. I guarantee that if you finish a bowl, you’ll feel almost as content as if you’d just aced a major publishing deal, or heard your life story made the NY Time Best Seller List. Well maybe not quite that content. But close.

Genie Davis’ romantic suspense The Model Man is her first with Kensington/Zebra. The noir Dreamtown was published by a small press in 2001. Also available – the short fiction of The Girl and the Gun on Amazon Shorts.

Coming July 2006: erotica written as Nikki Alton from Kensington Aphrodisia’s The Cowboy – Rodeo Rider; January 2007, more suspense with Five O’Clock Shadow.

A produced screen and television writer, director, and producer, her work spans a variety of genres from supernatural thriller to romantic drama, action, family, teen, and comedy. Her credits include ABC’s Port Charles; the independent film, Losing Hope; reality programming and documentaries for The Learning Channel, PBS, and HGTV, numerous television commercials and corporate videos.

If you are in sales cold calling is a great way to get sales appointments and quickly weed thru those who are interested and excited about what you are selling and those who are not interested.

Some people believe because cold calling is a percentage game and few people actually wish to buy what you are selling. Nevertheless cold calling saves the sales person time in travel and the prospects time from not being bothered or visited by unwanted sales people.

Many sales folks hate cold calling, yet I bet if they would better track exactly where their best sales originate they would be surprised that cold calling is indeed amongst the top ways that such leads came it. Word of Mouth referrals would give cold calling a good run for its money in this category, yet you cannot wait around for the phone to ring if you are going to be successful in sales, you must be proactive.

Speaking of being proactive I recommend that you chart the number of cold calls you make each week and the amount of sales you make and you will see that when your cold call numbers go up so does your commission sales income. It therefore makes sense to set goals of how many calls you make and chart your progress and look at how many of those cold calls lead to entering serious talks with the prospects or drive you into the sales process and then eventually lead to sales. Please consider this in 2006.

Health insurance often is not top priority when planning a college education. Students are in general in the mindset where the need for health insurance is not the first thing they think about. Teenagers are wont to suppose they are immortal and that they can not become ill. However, this is seldom true regardless of how fit an individual may seem. Suitable health insurance is not for the rich, it’s indeed a necessity. For students who are included in a parent’s insurance policy, in general most family policies should extend to a college student until they are 23. For individuals who do not currently have cover through their parent’s plan, obtaining an appropriate student health insurance policy should be apart of budgeting for a further education.

What must a student look for in an insurance plan for college students? Deductibles: It is an annual payment that must be made before your health benefits start kicking in, similar to an auto deductible. An example might be, should the deductible be $500, you must to pay that amount before applying for financial benefits from the insurance plan.

What’s your co-pay? Once your deductible is covered, most health insurance plans require you to contribute a part of the cost for every trip to the physician’s surgery, medicinal drug or operation. That, succinctly, is co-pay. What should the health insurance cover? Nearly all plans include Health Maintenance Organization and Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA). Essentially this means certain physicians might not be included in your “network” and might not be included on your insurance policy. A directory of participating health professionals are provided with your medical insurance plan, so consider that before you select a health insurance policy designed for students. Catastrophic coverage: You should be aware that there is frequently a limit on medical insurance for college students particularly as far as terminal illnesses are concerned, the extent of coverage offered in most student health insurance is in general lower than any standard plan.

Restrictions: Student health coverage plans may include various restrictions. Study your policy and see the scope of your cover.

Keep all of your health insurance details nearby at all times. It’s not only not possible to anticipate an accident or illness, but they are regrettably likely to occur when not convenient. Familiarize yourself with the parameters unique to your affordable college medical insurance even should you be covered by a parent’s policy.

Machine-accessible gaming world wide websites are modulated via 3 assemblies. These are OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and finally the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association FTGA. sports wager

The OSGA are an independent watchdog authority that currently monitors the thriving offshore betting industry in an attempt to also give betting devotees the facility to quickly choose fair companies to play games on, without having to worry. It works to watch over wagering fan’s rights, also they do not levy any particaption dues. The agency is a competent not to mention neutral third party agency which voices nonpartisan points of view, based around your comments, independent analysis, chats, inside information and in addition to provide industry information.

The Interactive Gaming Council is a not-for-profit council. The council was set up to supply an arena for concerned people to discuss issues moreover to move forward communal matters in the worldwide interactive gambling profession, in an effort to establish trustworthy and also reliable industry standard procedures and procedures which aim to improve client trust in internet based wagering commodities and services, and in addition to help as the overseas betting industry’s general policy representative not to mention it acts as a data base.

The IGC has made a regard for safety, candor and believability by reason of the elevated standards it displays, also its appeal for business concerns of exemplary practise. The IGC influences overseas gaming by means of endorsing a distinctive ten step code of conduct and also bills sports gambling businesses a license fee to display the council’s logo. Unsatisfied customers can, if they desire, air any of their misunderstandings to the IGC.

The Fidelity Trust Gaming Association was set up in an attempt to construct a benchmark which will reform the transactions of web based gambling business concerns. The agency suggest that by doing business exclusively with internet sites of honorable standing, they are able to shape an affiliation of the fairest and professional offshore gaming companies multinationally. There are governing bodies who keep an eye on the procedures practised by networked betting and which should help to take the sting out of any trepidation held by doubters. Internet based sports gambling websites are completely trustworthy, in that personal data are not required and in addition the dividends and the odds are equivalent to a typical Vegas-type wager. They eliminate the traveling outlay, but keep of a gambling casino, only these days you are in a position to game at your own computer.