The first step to developing your character is to ask these questions: What does he/she want? How does this person’s desires affect the story’s plot and the people around him/her? By deciphering this person’s desires, you’ll be able to get the story rolling.

The second step is to figure out who your character really is. This could begin with such obvious things as their appearance. What do they look like? What is their full name? These details will lead to more pertinent points about the character’s innermost self. What are their vices? The things they love? Their personal history prior to the story? What relationships have affected who they are today?

If you’re having a problem developing a character, take the time to people-watch. Observe the individuals around you. Look into your own family and friends for inspiration. One little detail is often enough to get you going.

Once you have a basic profile of your character, think of them with your story in mind. How do they fit in this world you’ve created? How do they deal with obstacles, particularly the ones they will face once the story begins. By keeping these thoughts at the forefront, you’ll be able to start planning out what is called a character arc: the way a character changes and grows throughout the events of the story. By working out this character arc, you will be able to see the details of your story even more clearly than when you first began.

As you plan, make sure your character is dynamic, not static. A dynamic character grows and changes throughout the story, while a static character remains the same. Think of the characters in some of your favorite books or short stories. Do they grow with the story, or do they remain the same? More often than not, the most interesting characters evolve as a story progresses.

You may develop these characters with excruciating detail and plan their actions from start to finish, but one essential aspect of character development is letting your characters loose in the world of your story. As you write, you may find that your character is moving in an entirely different direction than you had planned. Stop a minute and question if the move is realistic, both to the character and to the world he/she’s in. If it makes sense, go with it. Part of being a good literary “parent” is letting your characters go and develop on their own.

If you’re still having problems developing your characters, do some research to find ready-made character profiles. These lists of pertinent questions can serve as a guide and will help you develop your characters till they reach their full potential.

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Always use Citations

There is one thing you must remember, regardless of which writing style you use: When you use someone else’s ideas, always cite them.

This basic rule will help you avoid plagiarism. It is very simple and is easy to remember.

However, you may be unfamiliar with the methods of citing others’ work. Consider that there are many style guides. Each one has a slightly different way of citing. What this should tell you right away is that there is no one “correct” way to cite.

In-Text and Reference Citations

There are two methods of citing that you must become familiar with:

The first method of citing is done by using an in-text citation. This means that if you quote another author, or paraphrase their work, you must put a citation at the end of the sentence. This gives the author credit for their work.

The second method of citing is done by placing a reference citation at the bottom of the page. The online Citation Machine can help you with this. Just enter the requested information and select your style. It will create the reference citation for you. It will also suggest an in-text citation.

It is not always practical to use in-text citations for every kind of writing. For example, when writing articles, too many in-text citations can cause confusion. The academic style of writing, on the other hand, is very strict. In this style, every sentence that uses others’ work must have an in-text citation as well as a reference page.

Styles and Citations

There are different style guides such as APA, MLA, Chicago and AP styles. Each of these has a slightly different method of how to cite each kind of material. Materials cited could be books, non-print sources, electronic sources or journal articles.

If that isn’t enough, these styles also have slightly different rules for commas! However, it is not important to memorize the differences between them. It is important is to know that they exist, and are useful sources for your future reference.

If you are beginning to suspect that citing is really a matter of what kind of circumstance you are dealing with, then you are really getting it! Congratulations are in order because this is a very challenging concept for many writers.

Yes, every time you use someone else’s work, you must give them credit. Credit, in writing, is called a citation. This can be an in-text citation, a reference at the bottom of the page, or both.

Like most issues in writing, the way to avoid plagiarism has a lot to do with your audience — who are you writing to, and what are their expectations of you? One easy way to get this information is to ask!

References:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/1/
http://citationmachine.net/

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First, simplify your thinking. Messy writing often comes from an unorganized mind. Before putting pen to paper, clarify your message. Knowing exactly what you want to say will make the writing process easier.

Second, simplify your sentences. The sentence is the smallest unit of composition that carry a complete message. When your sentences are too wordy or complex, your writing is confusing. Here are a few tips on how to keep them simple.

1. Use short sentences.

Tame your wild sentences by watching their length. Avoid endless ones, that make your reader gasp for a comma or a period.

2. Cut unnecessary words.

Many words are mere clutter: they take space, but achieve nothing. Stay away from expressions such as “it is a fact that,“ or “there is no doubt but that.” You can either cut them or replace them with shorter versions such as “no doubt.”

3. Think twice before using adjectives and adverbs.

Adjectives and adverbs are often unnecessary. You can do without “very,” “also” or “really.” “Actually,” “basically” or “completely” add little to your message. The line of adjectives in “our reliable, trustworthy team” makes the writing crowded and waters down the message.

4. Avoid repetitive phrases.

Once you said what you had to say, move on. The sentence “He worked hard in order to gain the trust of their clients and make them more confident” does not need the last five words.

5. Avoid run-on sentences.

A run-on sentence has at least two parts crowded together, either of which can stand by itself. “The study material is very difficult, I will need a tutor” needs a period instead of a comma.

6. Avoid introductory phrases and clauses.

Do not waste time in making your point. Emphasize your message by starting your sentence with the subject.

7. Do not overuse prepositions.

A high dose of these little words can turn your sentence into a nightmare. “The cold touch of the wind from the south” can be reduced to “the cold touch of the southern wind.”

8. Use the active voice.

Passive voice is weak and confusing. “ I will always remember my summer vacation” is simpler and clearer than “My summer vacation will always be remembered.”

9. Write in the positive form.

The negative form complicates the sentence, by weighing it down with unnecessary words, and making the message weaker. Write “he refused” instead of “he did not want to,” or “narrow” instead of “not very wide.”

10. Use concrete language.

Ernest Hemingway called it “vigorous English.” Let each word draw a clear picture. When a person is “stumbling,” it is more vivid than “walking unsteadily.” When another is “grumbling,“ it is simpler than “muttering in discontent.”

As a word of caution, remember not to go too far in your search for simplicity. Albert Einstein said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Do not regress to the writing level of a child. Simple writing is not idiotic. It is writing where every word has a purpose. Keep that in mind.

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General Proofreading Tips
For many writers, it can be difficult to proofread their own writing, especially right after they have written it. Give yourself some time after writing before proofreading, ideally a day or two. Reading your writing out loud can help you identify errors that you may not have caught otherwise. Finally, have another person read your writing to help with proofreading.

Spelling and Grammar
One of the biggest mistakes that writers make is relying on the spelling and grammar checking programs that are included with most word processing programs. No automated spelling or grammar check can make up for proofreading performed by a human. The key problem with an automated spell check system is that the system cannot detect when the wrong word is used. For example, if a writer used “on” instead of “one,” spell check would not catch that mistake, since both words are spelled correctly.

Instead of relying entirely on automated programs, you should carefully read your work for mistakes in spelling and grammar. Here are tips on some of the most common spelling and grammatical errors:

• “Lose” vs. “Loose” – the word “lose” is the opposite of win, while “loose” refers to something that is not tight.
• “They’re,” “their,” and “there” – “They’re” is an abbreviation for “they are,” ”there” is possessive, as in “their clothes,” and “there” refers to a place. Similarly, “your” is possessive and “you’re” stands for “you are.”
• “It’s” and “its” – “Its” is possessive, while “it’s” represents “it is.”
• “Affect” and “effect” – usually, “effect” is a noun, while “affect” is a verb. If you are unsure of which one to use, replace the word with another verb; if the verb works as a replacement, then the word you should use is “affect.”
• “A lot” is always two words.

Writing Style
While writing style is likely to vary from piece to piece, some key concepts remain the same. A good piece of writing includes an introduction and a conclusion; both the introduction and conclusion should summarize the main points of the piece without being repetitious. The introduction of a piece should include a well-written, clear thesis statement: a single sentence that conveys the key point of the writing. A thesis statement should be easy for anyone to identify. In the same way that the thesis statement introduces a paper, a key sentence should be included in each paragraph. Typically the first sentence, a key sentence introduces or summarizes the main point of the paragraph. If you have a great essay, you should be able to read the thesis sentence and the first sentence of each paragraph and get the piece’s purpose.

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Disconnect the Internet

Since most of us have access to internet in our homes or place of business, it is often easy to become distracted by all of the “stuff” out there. Disconnecting from the internet can help you to focus on the job at hand.

Begin with the Most Challenging Part

When you first sit down to write, start with the part that has been giving you the most trouble or you predict will be the most difficult. Not only will this help you complete the necessary work, it will also encourage you to continue when you know that it only gets easier from there!

Get Some Exercise

Sitting at a desk and writing can be quite “boring” after a while. Getting up and getting some exercise can help to get both your blood and your creative moving. Exercise has been proven to be great at relieving stress and in clearing your mind.

Get Some Caffeine

If you are on a deadline and don’t have time to get up and go get some exercise, grab some coffee instead. Caffeine is a stimulant that should help to get your mind working.

Have Some Healthy Snacks

Eating a diet that is low in unhealthy fats and carbohydrates and high in protein, vegetables, fruits, and antioxidants has been shown to both make you feel healthier as well as increase your mental productivity.

Change Your Location

If you are working on a laptop, try to change your environment by going outside if at all possible. Distractions are abundant in your home or office and this way you know that you won’t become sidetracked by other projects.

Create an Outline

If you are not sure of the exact words you want to use, just create an outline with the primary points that you want to cover. This will make the writing appear more manageable and will be less overwhelming when you take it in pieces. This will help you by giving you something to work from instead of simply staring at a blank screen.

Don’t Think Too Much

If you find yourself obsessing about the first sentence and how to start, just begin by writing something. Sometimes, it is the hardest to just start writing. So just start writing down as much as you can and hopefully that will get the creative juices flowing. You can always go back and edit the writing later.

When In Doubt, Take a Break

If none of the above steps seem to have an effect on your ability to write, try to take a break. Even taking a nap can be helpful. Being tired and trying to work at the same time can be a bad combination. Try to get as much sleep as you can at night but, if you are still finding yourself exhausted during the day, a quick cat nap can do wonders!

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Because of this, the first and most crucial tip is to write your business emails either by hand or in a word processor first, allowing yourself the opportunity to correct and edit what you write. Once your letter is finished, you can copy and paste it into your email composer and send, with the peace of mind in knowing that you had the opportunity to first review your work.

So what about the actual writing process? There are a few good habits, discussed below, that will enhance the quality and clarity of your business emails, at the same time lending a professional and expert tone to your message.

Know your audience. You might not use the same wording in an email to your boss that you would to a client, or coworker. Awareness of who will be reading your message is key to maintaining a professional quality of writing. For example, when emailing a coworker, you might include abbreviations and industry terms that increase the efficiency of your message…but a client who is new to your company may not know what these mean, and so would become confused.

Keep it short and sweet. Business emails are not meant to be long explorations of prose, but rather deliver information in a polite and professional–and efficient–email. After you draft your email, edit it for phrases or words that repeat previously written thoughts and information.

For example, if your email includes the sentence, “Thank you for your time and business,” you would not want to write one paragraph down, “I am very grateful for your sale.” These sentences mean the same thing, and so only one is necessary.

Organize your business email. The content of your message should follow a clear and easy-to-follow path. If it helps, you may consider outlining your email before you write it. This serves two purposes: permitting you to organize your thoughts in a linear and logical way, and ensuring you don’t accidentally leave out an important point.

Write the subject line after you write the email. The subject line of your email should be as short as possible, while conveying the meaning of the message to the recipient. Not only will this aid in allowing recipients to respond in a timely fashion, but it will make the email easier to find if you must search for it in the future.

Consider, for example, an email containing a business quote. A subject line reading “The quote you requested” may be too vague. Rather, you might say “The insurance quote you requested” or “the [name of your company] quote you requested.”

Likewise, you don’t want a subject line that is so long that the main point of your message does not show in most email preview panes. “This email contains a business quote which you requested from me” is an example of a subject line that is both vague and too long.

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When someone says to you that the sentence they just spoke was a “figure of speech,” they’ve generally said something that does not make literal sense and may be confusing to those who are not native speakers. Many phrases that have become common place in the English language are figures of speech and do not make literal sense. A good example of this is the phrase “it’s raining cats and dogs.” Of course it’s not actually raining cats and dogs. Instead, what the speaker means when they say this phrase to you is that it’s raining very hard as opposed to just sprinkling or a steady rain.

Now that you have a basic grasp of figures of speech, let’s move onto similes. A simile is a sentence that takes two things that are generally considered to be quite different and compares them to each other as if they’re actually similar. A simile often uses the words “as” or “like” in order to show the comparison. An example of a common simile is when someone says to you that they’re “working like a dog.” This figure of speech actually means that they’re working very hard and, most likely, working very long hours. The non-literal comparison of “working” to a “dog,” two words that typically wouldn’t go together, along with the incorporation of the word “like” between the comparison is how you know that it’s a simile.

Metaphors are similar on the surface but are different. To be a true metaphor, there will be a non-literal comparison, just like in a simile, but there are two main differences; one of the words in the sentence will also be used to symbolize something else and there will be no introductory words, such as like or as, to introduce the comparison. Instead the comparison will be implied instead of more bluntly stated. An example of a commonly used metaphor is “the foot of the mountains.” In this example, the word “foot” is used to symbolize the base of the mountains. When you hear the word “foot” you automatically think of the lowest point on your body and therefore hearing the phrase “the foot of the mountains” automatically conjures up an image of the lowest point of a mountain, regardless of if you’re familiar with the phrase or not. So as you can see that phrase has both a non-literal comparison, comparing a foot to a mountain, and symbolism, using the word “foot” to represent the base of the mountains, and that’s how you know it’s a metaphor.

Although similes and metaphors may seem a bit tricky at first, with a bit of practice they’ll allow you to have less confusing conversations with native speakers. As with everything else, practice makes perfect so have fun with it!

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Re-Tweet Something Interesting
Start with the simplest Twitter activity that there is. If you find a tweet interesting, others will find it interesting, too. Follow a few Twitterers who are consistently fascinating. That way, you’ll always have something great to pass along. Just make sure not to claim the info as your own, original work.

Reply to Someone Else’s Tweet
Add your opinion to a tweet that you find interesting or compelling. Whether you tweet often or not, it’s a good idea to reply to the tweets of the people you follow.

Be Thought-Provoking
Ask an interesting question – not just “What did you have for lunch?” Ask something that will cause conversation and replies. Ask how your followers feel about a current event or something more philosophical.

Keep Up with the News
If you find a news story that affects you in some way, tweet about it. Link to the online version of the story or article, write a short reaction, and ask others’ opinions on it. Everyone can identify with the news in one way or another.

Tweet a ‘How To’ or ‘X Ways To’ List
Most people get sucked in by a good How To article, and How To tweets are no different. Don’t post an extremely long list – 5 is a good number. Post one tweet for each item on the list. If you didn’t create the list yourself and found it on a website or other source, be sure to cite its original location in your last tweet of the list.

Don’t Resort to Text Abbreviations
While text abbreviations and internet lingo have seen a long period of popularity, those forms of spelling have become more of an object of ridicule than a convenience. While you do have only 140 characters to use in a single tweet, if you find that you need to replace words with numbers or other abbreviations, you might be trying to force too much into one message. It’s better to divide a tweet into two sentences than to turn off your audience.

Don’t Be Afraid to Tweet in Real Time
If you’re doing something interesting – attending a political rally or going to a well-publicized concert, for example – it can be fun for those following your tweets to read your running account of the event.

Be Careful about Advertising
Even if you love that soft drink or a particular brand of jeans, promoting them often can be annoying and will make your Twitter feed seem like one big commercial. If you absolutely have to mention the brand name of something, make sure if fits into a tweet that has a bigger object of interest.

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Transitions are words or phrases that help to connect and clarify sentences. Transitions help ideas flow from one sentence to another. Without them, writing can appear choppy or confused. Transitions not only establish a relationship between sentences, but between you and your reader.

Which transitional word or phrase you use depends upon the type of relationship you want to build between sentences. For example, this sentence began with a transition know as “illustration.” The use of “for example” illustrates the point of the sentence before it. Other illustration transitional words and phrases include: for instance, namely, to illustrate, in other words, in particular, and specifically.

Let’s take a look at other types of relationships between sentences, along with a few examples of some of the transitional words and phrases associated with them:

Contrast: But, or, nor, yet, rather, in spite of, however, nevertheless.
Addition: And, further, finally, moreover, besides, than, too, also, again.
Time: Before, after, then, once, next, last, usually, soon, meanwhile, ordinarily.
Space: Below, beneath, under, around, above, over, surrounding, beside, nearby.
Concession: Although, granted that, in spite of, of course, at least, even though.
Emphasis: Furthermore, indeed, truly, certainly, surely, in fact, really, above all.
Details: Specifically, especially, namely, including, in particular, in detail.
Consequence: Consequently, thus, hence, accordingly, in other words.
Summary: Therefore, finally, in short, in conclusion, therefore, so, because.
Suggestion: To this end, with this in mind, for this purpose.

In using transitional words or phrases, it’s important to pay attention to the use of punctuation. Typically, transitions that occur at the beginning of a sentence are followed by a comma. However, sentences with a particularly close relationship, whether in content or format, often use a semi-colon to stress that relationship.

Example:

• He planned to become a professional baseball player and diligently practiced the sport every day. However, his parents had other plans for him.
• He planned to become a professional baseball player; however, his parents had other plans.

Don’t be afraid to keep transitions simple. Some writers try to appear sophisticated by using overly-complex transitional words and phrases. Experienced writers know that simple words and phrases are often the most effective. A good rule of thumb is to use language that you would normally use in your everyday life. Words such as “nevertheless” or “heretofore” may work in academic or technical writing, but may be viewed as overblown rhetoric in less complex work.

Finally, remember transitional words and phrases are not just used to connect sentences, but to connect paragraphs as well. Beginning a paragraph with a transitional word or phrase will help you on your way to mastering the art of sentences transitions.

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