Spin It Lucky

Fishing rods, caps, weights, accessories and additional sport kit can come with a considerably high price tag, yet, you don’t have to allow the cost of the sportswear merchandise thwart you from getting pleasure from the sports that you adore. If you’re very interested in sport, there are countless of different ways that you can follow to get the equipment that you want at a reduced fee.

The initial way to save yourself cash is to look through specific online sportswear merchandise shops as these commonly offer goods at tremendous low prices. What is more, Internet sports websites very often have numerous specific weekly auctions & sales for you to take advantage off.

Yet, at times the simplest way to save money on sporting merchandise is by purchasing quality gear. As contradictory as that could sound, you’ll shell out a great deal less in the long run if you obtain gear that will endure a very long time. You can investigate & save for a major acquisition, and then obtain it only when it’s offered online at a cheap cost. When you purchase something that will last you for year (instead of gear that will fail in one or two months) you’re in reality saving yourself a considerable amount of money.

You should by no means permit money impede you from participating in something brand new or taking part in your much-loved sports activity. By shopping wisely, paying consideration to sales or saving up to get good-quality items, you can save yourself an extensive amount of money on sporting items of all manner. Find superb deals on horse riding equipment.

John Briley, a long time proponet of exercise to improve health, and well known writer for the Washington Post, recaps the results of a recent study that indicates that exercise helps alleviate back pain as well psychological stress. The article quotes William O. Roberts, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and a past president of the American College of Sports Medicine, thusly: “Get people moving and it helps [address] their back pain,” The study — involving 681 men and women, aged 34 to 69, who sought treatment for low-back pain — was published in the October issue of the peer-reviewed American Journal of Public Health. All data were self-reported, including pain (on a zero-to-10 scale, with 10 representing unbearable pain), psychological distress, frequency and amount of physical activity, and frequency of low-back exercises. The average pain score was seven; 77 percent of the group said they had at least one day of restricted activity in the prior month due to back pain, and about 47 percent reported having had back pain for more than a year. Participants filled out questionnaires six weeks after enrolling in the study and again at six, 12 and 18 months. Researchers converted exercise data for each participant into metabolic equivalent task (MET) values. Those who exerted at least 10.5 METs per week — about the equivalent of three hours of brisk walking or similar activity — showed the greatest reductions in back pain and psychological distress. But back exercises increased the odds of subsequent low back pain and disability by 64 percent and 44 percent, respectively. And among the participants who did lower-back exercises, those who did them the least — less often than one day per week — reported the lowest pain levels. Maddeningly, researchers did not collect data on which back exercises each person performed, nor did they determine why the exercises might worsen back pain. These failings reduce the value of the findings. Poor form and the wrong exercises may explain the negative results, they said. The findings are not surprising, says William O. Roberts, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and a past president of the American College of Sports Medicine. Roberts also promotes core conditioning to address back pain. It’s generally felt that a strong core and strong abs can go a long way towards reducing many kinds of lower back pain.

We’ve heard the words, Write What You Know, but do we understand what they mean? The words can be misleading and may discourage new writers from branching out to try new genres. Do they mean we should only write about our experiences? No. They mean we should write what we know; and we know more than we think we do.

What needs knowing is what it’s like to be a human being. Everything else–occupations, places, times-everything–can be researched

Know Your Characters

People are people. It doesn’t matter which time line they’re in or the world you put them on, they are still people. Look at the people you know and use their odd habits and characteristics, along with your imagination to make your characters come alive for your readers.

Know Your History

Researching will teach you all about the physical aspects of your chosen time period. You can learn the modes of dress, speech and the type of government of any time period on earth.

Whether aliens in another galaxy where only your imagination sets the rules, or Earth two thousand years ago, you have to give them traits that humans, your readers, can identify with, or the story won’t work. Can you see your stoic, stern grandfather as ruler of a distant planet? What about the zany aunt who loves to wear loads of costume jewelry? A perfect Queen.

Everyone has experienced love, fear, hate, curiosity, just as you do. Take what you know and turn on your imagination, then mix it with the knowledge you’ve gained from your research. Your characters may be vampires, evil gods or aliens, but they will feel the same pain and fear that you do. They will feel love and compassion.

You know what frightens you. You know the feeling of being afraid. This is what makes the stories believable to others: your fear of dark places, of the unknown, pain and death–primal emotions that everyone shares. If it frightens you, it will probably frighten others. The same with love, happiness, sadness, anger–emotions are universal to all people. You know what causes these feelings in you, and know what happens to your body while under the influence of these feelings.

If a character falls into a icy creek and you’re unable to describe the feeling well enough for the reader to feel it; go jump into an icy creek. This is extreme of course, and I don’t advise it, but you’d only have to do it once to remember the feeling through hundreds of stories. You can use this feeling in many ways, being lost on a frozen mountain, for instance.

Everyone, whether they admit it or not, has felt so angry, if only for a split second, that they could commit murder. Remember that feeling and use it. Fiction is truth – exaggerated. Readers will identify with the characters, thus the story, because they have felt the same.

Write what you know is good advice, and you know more than you thought you did.

Concluding a three act story. The final or third part of a three act story is the conclusion. You have to tie up all the loose ends here, or your readers will remain unsatisfied. Don’t ever rely on ‘hope’ that the reader will have ‘forgotten’ your subplot involving a giant city-eating space weasel that surfaced 200 pages before. The reader WILL remember, and WILL expect you to explain how the weasel was defeated! Above all, the last act is the place for the final, crucial conflict. Typically, everything gained so far looks to be in great danger of being lost by a single, small act – an example would be Lord of the Rings. It could be argued that the Mount Doom scene is actually the climax of the book – and the incredible effort shown by Frodo in making it this far suddenly appears to be wasted, as he decides to keep the ring. You have a chance here to reveal something important about your characters – in the case of Frodo, it is that there are limits even to his willpower. Whatever you reveal may have been foreshadowed already – Frodo put the ring on once before, when under immense pressure, so his final failing isn’t completely out of the blue. The resolution can therefore be even more surprising – back to LOTR, and Gollum’s role has definitely been foreshadowed. Sure enough, he ends up saving the world, against all the odds, yet entirely believably. This is where the www.GetPlotted.com ’scratchpad’ online idea storage comes in handy. You can make a list of ‘to do’ things that need to be tied up at the end. Check them off as you do them, and there won;t be any loose ends.

Be wary of using randomness in your stories. In other words, although you are the creator of your literary world, and can do anything you like, don’t write things that appear ‘arbitrary’ to your readers. The great novels of all ages are marked out by the consistency of the worlds they create – randomness doesn’t play a part. The Frank Herbert ‘Dune’ novels, for example, stand tall as masterpieces of logical progression from start to finish. Why is the dry, barren world of Dune so valuable? Because it is home to ’sandworms’. Why are sandworms important? Because they produce ’spice’ as a waste product. Why is ’spice’ so important? Because it enables starflight. And so on. Don’t be tempted to use phrases or ideas just because you think they ’sound good’. Use them because they help to create a consistent jigsaw of interlocking ideas and themes. And while we are on it, be consistent. Keep an eye on the tone, style etc of your work. Don’t jump around from thriller to comedy or first person to third person if you want success in your writing.

Most genres have a definite and accepted style, or set of conventions. If you break those conventions without very good reasons, you run a real risk of alienating your reader. Gangster novels, for example. Extreme power brings extreme corruption, so if you want your Mafioso to be a kind, God-fearing gentleman into flower-arranging, you need a good reason for it. If you stick to these basic rules, you should be able to create a convincing and interesting internal world in the mind of your reader, which is basically what it’s all about! The plot generators at www.GetPlotted.com are a good way to create an outline – whatever the genre, the outline will be internally consistent, so you won’t create the skeleton of a novel that has any major flaws.

A large number of citizens struggle to find workable approaches to earn some extra cash from home, without having to worry over being tricked. Thus after a quick web search returns paid money surveys in their results, a person likely thinks they have found the answer to their inner prayers. Although true there are many paid online survey opportunities available, an interested party should analyze the details and work to find a legitimate survey company. Getting Show Examples Of Using Phone In Surveys is simple. You also need to be careful while opting for these sites as there are many fraud companies out there who may not pay you or make late payments, read on more about Show Examples Of Using Phone In Surveys. So why do people take the time to get involved with these? Here are some of the more common reasons why paid opinion surveys are taken. Also see Make Money Wholesaling Luxury Homes. What should you do next? Join 2 – 3 good programs read the step-by-step guidance work hard exercise patience and enjoy your new work at home endeavor.

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Good Luck!

It turns out that “tips and templates on how to write
resignation letters” is the third most sought-after
information at my Writing Help Central Web site.

So, when I looked into the subject more closely, I was
surprised to find that there is not a lot of guidance
available in guide book form on how to write a proper and
appropriate resignation letter. In fact, a recent visit to
the world’s largest bookstore www.amazon.com revealed that
there are no “how to” books available there that deal with
the art of writing resignation letters.

Surprising, but true.

This is interesting, because when you really look into it,
you realize that whether you leave a job gracefully and
appropriately will almost certainly have career and personal
implications, and can be almost as important as writing
a resume/cv or a cover letter.

THE EMOTIONS BEHIND RESIGNATION LETTERS

A resignation letter will be one of the most emotionally-
charged business letters that you will ever write. The
sentiments behind it are invariably volatile because of
what it represents. In fact, studies have found that
leaving a job can be almost as stressful as the breakup of
a marriage.

Nevertheless, it is highly advisable that not too many of
those emotions, especially any negative feelings, get
transferred to the written page. As much as possible, a
resignation letter should be treated as a business letter,
just like any other business letter.

There are a number of reasons why resignation letters have
more emotional implications than most other personal or
business letters. Here are the obvious ones:

- They are highly personal because they normally mark the

severance of both professional and personal relationships,

sometimes of a long-term nature.

- They typically signify the end of a period in a person’s

professional and/or personal life.

- They represent the beginning of a new period or phase in

someone’s personal and professional life, conjuring up

the fears that often arise with an uncertain future.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF RESIGNATION LETTERS

Following are a number of primary characteristics that
are unique to resignation letters.

Not Just Job-Related

Mention “resignation letter” and 99 of 100 people will think
exclusively about job-related situations. In reality, there
are a number of areas and circumstances for which
recommendation letters can be required. For example, in
addition to leaving jobs, resignation letters can be
required for such situations as: stepping down from a
committee, opting out of a course at school, leaving a club
or fellowship, and others.

Sensitive and Delicate

When you submit your resignation letter it will have
implications for you, the organization you are leaving,
and the colleagues and friends you are leaving behind. You
must realize that regardless of the real reasons behind your
departure, the message received by many will be that you’re
leaving because the organization and/or people just don’t
measure up any more. This is a natural human reaction for
many people and can’t be entirely avoided. Just be
sensitive to it and don’t say, do, or write anything that
unnecessarily aggravates such feelings of abandonment.

Simple Formality or Big Surprise

A resignation letter can simply be the formalization of a
conversation that already took place with your boss, or an
announcement you made in a meeting. On the other hand, a
resignation letter can be tendered completely unannounced,
as a total surprise. In fact, this is often the case in the
real world. If this latter case applies in your situation,
you will have to be prepared to deal with any one of a
number of possible reactions from the organization and
your colleagues, ranging from total acceptance, to anger,
bargaining, and resentment.

Positive Beats Negative

The way in which you resign from an organization can have
significant implications, both career-wise, and personally.
Regardless of the circumstances and/or atmosphere
surrounding your departure, you will be well-advised to
take whatever measures you can to neutralize any negative
factors that may be in play. The approach and wording used
in the resignation letter can go a long way towards
achieving this aim.

Always A Balancing Act

Writing a letter of resignation can be a bit of a balancing
act. You want to be honest, clear, and firm regarding your
intentions to leave, while at the same time you don’t want
to alienate the employer you are leaving. It would be nice
for that door to remain open, or at least ajar, just in
case you want to enter it in the future. After all, you
never know what may happen down the road. For all you know,
your current employer could end up buying the company you
are moving to. So be careful about limiting your future
options.

Backlash Can Be Swift

Negative impacts from a poorly written or inappropriately
worded resignation letter can be almost immediate. For

example, if you are hoping to get a good recommendation
or reference from the employer you’re leaving, a negative
resignation letter can only hurt your letter of
recommendation/reference. Also, even if you don’t request
a recommendation letter there is nothing to stop future
potential employers from checking back with organizations
you have worked for.

So here’s a word to to the wise. Before you blindly jump
into writing a resignation letter, you might want to spend
some time thinking about it and finding out how to write
one that is proper and appropriate, so that it won’t come
back to haunt you.

To see a fully-formatted “real-life template” of a simple
letter of resignation, check out the following link:

http://instantresignationletterkit.com/sampreslet.html

© 2005 by Shaun Fawcett

Shaun Fawcett, is webmaster of the popular writing help site
WritingHelp-Central.com. He is also the author of several
best selling “writing toolkit” eBooks. All of his eBooks and
his internationally acclaimed f-r-e-e course, “Tips and Tricks
For Writing Success” are available at his writing tools site:
http://www.writinghelptools.com

Whether you are writing a magazine article, composing a press release, or editing the sales copy on your website, the end goal is always the same – to influence the thinking, and probably actions, of other human beings. To do that, your writing must instill confidence in a mind that is inclined to doubt you.

Here are a few tips on keeping the reader on your side.

Keep your word count under control. Keep it simple and don’t say any more than necessary; when you write, limit your word count from the start. Never spend 1000 words covering ground that could have been covered in 200 words – the extra material looks exactly like the useless filler it is.

Don’t hedge. At all. Sometimes a writer is worried about offending the reader, and so either avoids making direct statements or pads the statements with language designed to soften the blow. Don’t hedge – be bold and direct, and let the reader be offended. You can’t make everyone happy, and you’ll look like a fool if you try.

Be on the lookout for language – phrases like “taken as a whole” and words like “basically” – which doesn’t contribute anything towards supporting a direct claim. Weed out the hedging and get back to simple noun-and-verb statements.

Use active verb tense – avoid passive tense at all costs. Active verbs describe the subject committing an action and influencing its environment (“Jim drove his car”), while passive verb clauses dislocate the subject so that it becomes secondary to the predicate clause (“The car was driven by Jim”). Typically any verb clause in the “to be” family (“has been”, “is being”, etc.) is a passive clause.

Don’t use passive verbs; they express impersonal events rather than committed actions, and they create distance with the reader. They avoid a sense of personal accountability. Active verbs draw the reader closer and fix responsibility.

Maintain an optimistic, positive tone. Politicians everywhere know that good news wins elections. Limit your use of negative statements as much as possible, and focus on the positive. Give your reader a sense of hope rather than apathy.

Even if circumstances require that you deliver bad news, do so with optimism: there are problems, but we are solving them. Don’t deny or avoid obvious unpleasant truths – if your reader knows about them already, your avoidances will only damage your credibility – but keep control over your tone. Promoting a consistently optimistic image to your readers goes a long way towards generating confidence, or at least benefit of the doubt.

Structure your writing carefully. Carefully plan out what you intend to write, and then follow the plan. Don’t make it up as you go along. Don’t wander and don’t be indirect – organize your message carefully, to say the most in the least words possible. Demonstrate that you are in control of your communications, and worthy of reader confidence.

About The Author

Robert Warren (www.rswarren.com) is a Florida-based freelance copywriter specializing in the unique marketing needs of independent professionals.

writer@rswarren.com

Sure you can write, but can you write crisp, compelling copy that
ezine publishers, related Web sites, and book audiences will
clamor for?

To sell well, your articles, reports, books, and copywriting need to pass the checklist below:

1.___Make your book or article title or headlines grab your reader by the collar.

If your titles and headlines are ho hum, your prospective audience will leave you instantly. Headlines and titles are far more important than the copy that follows. A clever title is great, but an even better title is clever and clear.

Shorter titles sell better than longer ones, because they are easier to remember. Make each word count because your potential buyer will spend only four-eight seconds on the book front cover. On your Web site sales letters and your Web home page, your headlines must grab your visitors’ emotions and curiosity to lead them to buy. While some long titles have succeeded, usually the shorter, the better.

2.___Create your opening paragraph of your book chapter, your introduction, or your web copy to entice your reader continue.

It’s not the book, it’s the hook. In fiction, start with the most exciting and important incident first. For fiction and non-fiction, open with dialogue. It’s more present and exciting. It shows rather than tells. In non-fiction open with two or three compelling questions your reader can connect with. Point out your readers’ challenges through them. Then follow with the thesis, a story and other solutions.

3.___Make each part of your non-fiction book, report, article, or sales letter support the thesis.

For instance, the thesis of this article is “You will sell more books or services when you use these 10 ways to write like a pro.” Once you give each book, each chapter, each article a thesis, you’ll write more compelling, organized, and easy-to-read copy.

4.___Pursue friends and associates to edit your work. Send them a survey asking for their feedback on small amounts at a time. Always reward them with a free book at the finish, or a free special report you create from your longer pieces. Edit three times before you submit your piece to a professional editor or book coach. .

6.___Use strong, emotional or visual, power verbs rather than
linking verbs like “is,” “there is,” or “start to or begin.”

These linking verbs create passive, long sentences. They stop movement and slow readers down or bore them. Readers
expect straight forward copy, and when they don’t get it, will put your book or other writing down, never to return. Not a good way to receive word of mouth referrals. Start your sentences with the subject, then add a power verb. Find these listed in the eBook, “Use Power words to Spice Up Every Page of your Book or Web Site.”

7. Stop loading your copy with telling words like adverbs. Every time you see a “very” or an -ly ending in your work, rethink. Check with your Thesaurus to see the more compelling possibilities. Think corpulent instead of very fat. One specific word is always better than two mundane ones. When you see “suddenly,” a favorite of most writers, map out a picture, dialogue, or emotion to show sudden movement.

8. ___Corral your writing into concise, compelling sentences.
Know that the standard sentence is 15-17 words; anything longer means difficult level. Today’s business readers want shorter and to-the-point writing. Yes, you want some variety, just remember what your audience wants. Redundancies fill your first draft. Make your first edit hone in on these. Slash and burn them because they talk down to your audience.

9. ___Make sure your piece is coherent. Test whether it flows
or sounds natural by reading it aloud. When you stumble on a word or phrase, you can bet your reader does too. Once your piece passes this test, you can offer it to others for peer editing.

10.___Make your dialogues believable. No long speeches, please. Short dialogue reflects real life situations. . Use “said” rather than “screamed,” “pouted.” Show these in your character’s action. “Said” is like a comma, and readers don’t like to be slowed or talked down to.

Attract contacts, sales, clients, and make a difference in other’s lives using this “write like a pro” checklist.

Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks including “Write your eBook Fast,” and “How to Market your Business on the Internet,” she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says…and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 140 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com

To those looking for some writing education this year… I gathered and compiled information on 3-day writer’s retreats and conferences for the remaining part of 2004. The chart lists all the 3-day writing conferences in the US between May and December, fee, month, location, and what each of them offer participants. Their URL for additional information is hyperlinked in footnotes. All done in a easy-to-read comparison chart.

This information is available in MWord format for publication. To receive as an attachment, send me an email. This information is available in pdf format at: http://www.abundancecenter.com Look on home page at the typewriter on right — Breaking News. First listing. Will remain posted there for next 2 days. After that you can find it in the Articles section for the next few months. You will need to be able to open a pdf file.

Catherine Franz is a Marketing & Writing Coach, niches, product development, Internet marketing, nonfiction writing and training. Additional Articles: http://www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://abundance.blogs.com