Tuesday, January 29, 2013

How to Write a Summary Paragraph About an Article

A summary has to include the most significant details. It has to be organized and no alteration of facts. Remember your book reports in elementary and high school when the teacher asked you to make a comprehensive book report and write a good summary. That has never changed. It is also the same with a summary paragraph for an article and/or any literary text, including the fairy tale stories, among others and the textbook essays, or the Gettysburg Address.

Really read the article, write it, of which the content must be in your own words. See if you can work from outlines or subtopics. You can compare your work to the original texts, and then check. Express the article and limit your words.

An example is the condensation of a fiction story. It is a standard to make the summary not more than 500 words long. Don't misrepresent the facts. Don't change the point of view.

How to Write a Summary Paragraph About an Article

The article can also be summarized into a short paragraph. Remember your lead paragraph. If it is a news story, it should answer the question words: what, when, where, how, why, who, and which.

To summarize articles, get the main topic and include the most important details. Write them in your own words and in your own voice. It is like making short captions to remember something. It is like reading a text, and on the side of the book, putting words and labels to give you a summary and/ or a picture of the sentence. It is like noting an important literary text.

Let us try. Summarize the following.

1. Read a current newspaper. Write a summary. (The lead paragraph is important)
2. Get a magazine article. Summarize. (Get the main idea or the topic sentence. Or make an outline and fill in with the significant details.)
3. Google an ezine website. Find an article. Summarize. (Remember the summary must not be more than 500 words. If the article is short, the summary must be shorter, but the thought must be concrete.

Also, practice how to write an epitome. An epitome gets the main idea of a manuscript in one or two sentences only, or as prescribed. This will help you in your reading and analysis.

Check this example:

Write an epitome of "The Our Father," (a universal prayer).

Sample answer:

Our God in heaven holy be your name.

Give us food, pardon, and grace; in thy love and will, we all depend dear Father.

Practice now! Happy writing!

How to Write a Summary Paragraph About an Article
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
Check What Are The Top Cooking Books in Last 90 Days Best Cheap Deal!
Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

Friday, January 25, 2013

Short Story Writing: Article 11: Dialogue

Dialogue

Dialogue, perhaps more than any other aspect of writing, is something one has to develop a feel for, but like other aspects, observing a few simple principles can help us on the way.

Dialogue is definitely not a representation of the way people really speak. Everyday speech is full of repetition and hesitation and mundane comments which are extremely tedious when written down.

Short Story Writing: Article 11: Dialogue

"Good morning Janet, how are you?"

"Oh I'm fine thanks, how are you?"

"Not too bad thanks. Lovely weather today isn't it?" "Yes, gorgeous. Thank goodness that rain has stopped."

"Yes, I thought it would go on for ever. That's a nice dress you're wearing."

"Oh this old thing. I've had it for ages." "Did you watch any television last night?"

"Yes, I saw that film, it had that actor in it, what's his name? Oh goodness what is his name? It's on the tip of my tongue hold on a sec. . . . "

"Johnny Depp?"

"No, um, hold on a sec, it's coming . . . "

The yawning restless reader will not hold on a sec - he will abandon the story.

Dialogue should always be used to convey something important to the plot, and should be a distillation, or edited version, of real speech. It conveys the rhythm and syntax of real speech at its best, with all the roughness and redundancy pared away.

Dialogue needs to convey information to the reader, but in a way which sounds natural. For example if Janet says to Mary:

"Have you heard that John Jones is coming to work for us?"

This line conveys to us that there is a character around called John Jones with whom Janet is acquainted, and it does so in a way which sounds perfectly natural.

Don't overload dialogue with information. If you do it becomes conspicuous and sounds unnatural. For example:

"Have you heard that John Jones, the guy I met on holiday in Majorca last year but who already had a girlfriend and lived in Manchester is coming to work for us?"

Don't be reluctant, as some people seem to be, to put in 'he said', 'she said', 'said Janet', 'said John' after lines of dialogue, but on the other hand, don't put them in too often. We don't need them after every line, but we do need enough to keep us in touch with who is speaking. In a scene with only two characters they can largely be dispensed with, but with three or more characters present the reader will get lost without them. They are much less conspicuous when read than they seem while writing them.

The main objective in writing modern short story dialogue is to keep it brief and to the point. Every word must count, and it must sound natural. Listen to it as you write, and write it as the character would say it.

Copyright: Ian Mackean

http://www.literature-study-online.com/creativewriting/

Short Story Writing: Article 11: Dialogue
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
Check What Are The Top Cooking Books in Last 90 Days Best Cheap Deal!
Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

Ian Mackean runs the sites http://www.literature-study-online.com, where his site on Short Story Writing can be found, and http://www.booksmadeintomovies.com. He was a short story and novel writing tutor for many years, and had many of his own stories published in literary magazines. He is the editor of The Essentials of Literature in English post-1914, ISBN 0340882689, which was published by Hodder Arnold in 2005. When not writing about literature or short story writing he is a keen amateur photographer, and has made a site of his photography at http://www.photo-zen.com

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Writing a Newspaper Article - What to Include

Have you ever wanted to write for your local paper? Seeing your byline, or name, in an article is definitely something to be proud of. Though many people might be intimidated with writing a newspaper article, it is actually fairly simple, as long as you follow some general rules in writing.

What are the things included in a newspaper article? There are certain things that a writer must be aware of, in order to write the article well; effectively reaching out to the readers. Keep in mind that a newspaper article should be entertaining and yet must also be able to educate the readers.

The first part of the article should already capture the readers right away. You must be able to present the main details of the story-including the five W's: who, what, when, where, and why, as well as how. This should immediately convey to the readers what the whole article will be about. This part is called the "lead."

Writing a Newspaper Article - What to Include

You should be able to give enough background information to your readers; try to know who your audience will be, and what they know about the news you are presenting. A writer should never assume that the audience already has some knowledge about what he or she will be talking about. A brief background of the topic will usually suffice.

Because newspaper articles present facts, it should be done in a straightforward manner, free from biases. A writer must always have a critical as well as an objective eye. A writer's sources for the facts should be clearly stated in the article and properly documented.

Your writing should also be direct to the point, without frills and avoiding flowery words. The article should be able to present things clearly and directly, though not in a dry manner. After presenting the main information about the article, the writer must follow the pyramid format, where information is presented from the most important down to the least, so that the readers will get the most vital part of the news right away. This, then, should draw the reader into reading the rest of the article.

Sometimes, using direct quotes may help the writer convey his message to the audience better. When interviewing people, a writer may want to incorporate a line or two into his or her article. This can be a great help to the writer, as this will give the story more depth and feel. Sometimes, what an interviewee says also encapsulates the main gist of the news item, so quoting him or her will greatly aid in writing. However, using quotations too often will have the opposite effect-it will result in an article which seems as if the writer did not research or think thoroughly about; simply putting in others' thoughts and opinions. Learn how to use them well, but do not use them liberally.

After writing a newspaper article, you should check it for some errors. Make sure that everything is grammatically correct, and that there are no misspelled words. No one wants to read an article that is filled with errors, be it technical or factual. So make sure that you always edit your work before submitting or publishing it.

Writing a Newspaper Article - What to Include
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
Check What Are The Top Cooking Books in Last 90 Days Best Cheap Deal!
Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

Want a cheap solution to Writing a Newspaper Article?  We have the lowest rates, highest quality, and best article writing and submission services available online!  Come check out why internet marketers rank us #1 -  Go to http://www.99centarticles.com

Sunday, January 20, 2013

How to Write a Newspaper Article Quickly and Easily!

Articles in a newspaper are quick and to the point, not infused with a whole lot of personal opinion or evaluation, and tend towards the facts plain and simple as you can possibly imagine. This style may not seem like a lot of fun to write, but it is one of the most important types of stories and writing skills that you could possibly have. After all, newspapers employ more writers than any other writing industry, and even most companies who are not in the writing industry will look to hire people for writing newspaper articles. So, if you're a writer, then you need to learn how to write a newspaper article quickly. And if you need to learn how to write newspaper article quickly, then follow this simple guide.

All good newspaper articles start off with a good headline that will entice the reader to follow up and read the whole article, so it would be remiss of me not to cover the basics in this how-to guide for writing newspaper articles. The type of headline will likely be determined by your placement in the newspaper if you write for a physical product, so make sure to have plenty handy. If your article is to appear on the cover, something enticing will work well, however, if you're stuck on the inside pages, you need to stick to the facts and write a more generic title. Your title also might need to be shortened depending on what kind of space has been allotted for your article. For online magazines and publications, you should find a more enticing title that will tell them about the key idea of your article, but mention that it contains a "surprise" or a "secret." These two words drive more clicks than you can possibly imagine, and work very well for driving people to your articles.

For the body of the article, you need to find some good quotes from interviews. Nothing brings people in like quotes. It will make your article more personable and give it a human quality, plus it allows you to break the flow of facts.

How to Write a Newspaper Article Quickly and Easily!

There should be no more than three sentences per paragraph. If you have more to add about a particular topic, you should revisit it after a relevant quote or at the end of the article. Your article will be cramped into a corner and put in thin columns, so writing with short paragraphs will look more appealing and readable. Most people forget this, and will write long and interesting paragraphs, full of information, but will wonder why so many people skip reading them.

The last thing you need to know about how to write newspaper articles is that your article should contain a picture. Words are less powerful than a picture, and a captivating picture will make or break your readability. Without a picture, your article looks dry and unimportant. With a picture, you will suddenly gain notoriety and visibility.

If you follow those simple steps, then you will have learned the basics of how to write a newspaper article, and you can write a newspaper article quickly and easily. If you want to learn how to make some money with your newspaper articles, then click here to learn how to make money with your newspaper articles.

How to Write a Newspaper Article Quickly and Easily!
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
Check What Are The Top Cooking Books in Last 90 Days Best Cheap Deal!
Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

Jordan Matthews writes for the Green-Machine, a website designed to help you make money on the internet. If you follow those simple steps, then you will have learned the basics of how to write a newspaper article, and you can write a newspaper article quickly and easily. If you want to learn how to make some money with your newspaper articles, then click here to learn how to make money with your newspaper articles.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Writing -- How To Use "Use" Versus "Utilize" Correctly?

"Use" and "utilize" are two verbs with distinct meanings. Don't confuse them.

"Use" is to employ objects for the purposes they were designed for.

"Utilize," on the other hand, is to employ objects for unintended purposes.

Writing -- How To Use "Use" Versus "Utilize" Correctly?

Authoritative proof:

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the verb use as "to make use of (some immaterial thing) as a means or instrument; to employ for a certain end or purpose."

But utilize is defined as "to make or render useful; to convert to use, turn to account."

MSN Encarta Dictionary defines to utilize as "to make use of something, or find a practical or effective use for something."

And here is the logical proof of the crucial distinction between these two verbs: the logical extreme of "use" is "abuse," referring to the act of using something in ways that is contradictory to its original "mission statement" or designed function.

But there is no corresponding logical extreme for "utilize" like, let's say, "disutilize" or "abutilize" since by its very definition, to utilize something means to use it in ways that is different than the purpose for which it was originally designed or created. "Abuse," so to speak, is a built-in semantic component of "utilize."

WRONG: "The TV set utilizes coaxial cable to connect to the antenna." (A TV unit and a coaxial cable were meant to be used together, by definition.)

CORRECT: "The TV set uses coaxial cable to connect to the antenna.

CORRECT: "The TV set utilizes paper clips to connect to the antenna." (A TV set is not designed to use paper clips to connect to the antenna. That's a highly unusual improvisation and -- in the stretched sense of the word -- an "abuse" of paper clips.)

------------------------------------------------------------

Writing -- How To Use "Use" Versus "Utilize" Correctly?
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
Check What Are The Top Cooking Books in Last 90 Days Best Cheap Deal!
Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a writer with 20 years of experience. He is available for a wide variety of freelance assignments. Visit his web site http://www.writer111.com for more information on his services.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Writing an RFP (Request for Proposal)

A while back, a potential client provided me with some general details of the writing work he wanted me to do for his company. Then he asked me to send him a proposal.

Proposal?! I panicked as I tried to confirm with him what he meant by that since I had never done one before, at least not as a freelancer.

I must've not really wanted to pursue this opportunity since I didn't bother to do research or follow up with the company after submitting a contract instead of a proposal. A little time passed, I came across an article on writing RFPs (Request for Proposal). Ding! The light bulb went on. This guy verbally gave me his RFP and wanted a written response.

Writing an RFP (Request for Proposal)

When a company needs a project to be completed by a contractor or outside source, they write a RFP. This is a formal document describing the project, how the contract companies should respond, how the proposals will be reviewed, and contact information. Often, the company documents the submission guidelines to make it easier for them to compare responses. There are no specific standards or guidelines for creating the RFP, but government agencies usually strict standards they follow when conducting the proposal process.

Outside companies read the RFP and write a proposal (a bid) explaining how they can best provide and meet those needs. When writing the proposal, the company should closely follow the guidelines established in the RFP to avoid being removed from consideration for the potential project.

A typical proposal contains:

Executive summary - summary of the entire proposal Statement of need - why project is necessary Project description - How project will be implemented and evaluated Organization information Project schedule Budget Conclusion

My situation was an informal version of all this. The client gave me a high level overview of what I might do for him. If I knew then what I know now, I would've written up a description of the client's needs and how I would complete the work in meeting those needs.

Small businesses would likely do a proposal in between the one I got and the complex government required ones. Most small businesses will be prompted to write a proposal when approaching a client. The client may ask you to submit a proposal outlining what you can do for them. In this case, write a proposal including the elements of a typical proposal and keep it short and to the point especially if the client is not a large company.

There are examples of RFPs and responses peppered throughout the Web, but which one you can learn from depends on the type of work involved. A proposal can be two pages or as big as a book. Rely on your favorite search engine and do the research to create an unbeatable proposal.

Writing an RFP (Request for Proposal)
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
Check What Are The Top Cooking Books in Last 90 Days Best Cheap Deal!
Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

Meryl K. Evans, Content Maven, is Editor-in-Chief of eNewsletter Journal and The Remediator Security Digest. She's a slave to a MarketingProfs weekly column and a Web design reference guide at InformIT. She is the author of the popular e-report, How to Start a Business Blog and Build Traffic. Visit her site at http://www.meryl.net/blog/ for free newsletters, articles, and tips.