| -link"> | | | | transfer them to the written page. A good piece of |
| Five questions anybody considering writing an article | | | | writing needs to start with a strong outline. One |
| or book needs to ask themselves. | | | | needs to be able to produce an effective |
| Everybody's got a little writing skill. But if you've got | | | | introduction; a body that flows in an understandable |
| an idea for something you'd like to get published - an | | | | way, with each point being properly supported; and a |
| article or a book, perhaps - the question is, is your | | | | decent conclusion that properly summarizes, |
| skill level enough? It's one thing to compose an email | | | | encourages the reader to take some kind of action, |
| to your sister. It's a different matter entirely when it | | | | or both. If you're not the organized type, you might |
| comes to sitting down and having the wherewithal to | | | | want to enlist some help. |
| write a publishable piece of work. Here are five | | | | How are my spelling and grammar skills? |
| questions you should ask yourself before you decide | | | | Do you know the difference between "there" and |
| to tackle that potential writing project: | | | | "their" and "they're"? Between "affect" and "effect"? |
| Do I have the time? | | | | Your spellchecker program doesn't. Do you know |
| I find that most people don't realize the time that's | | | | when to use "lie" and when to use "lay"? When to |
| involved in writing something important. Even a | | | | use "who" and when to use "whom"? Your |
| relatively short article can take longer than people | | | | spellchecker doesn't know the differences there |
| think. There's a process that takes place between | | | | either, although some grammar-checking programs will |
| the brain, where the ideas are, and the fingertips, | | | | at least offer suggestions. Even still, it doesn't take |
| which remain poised above the keyboard waiting for | | | | too many wrong tenses or misplaced commas to |
| instructions. In a lot of cases, what goes on between | | | | throw a cloud over everything you've written, thus |
| these two points can render the original idea almost | | | | undoing any credibility you might have. If the work |
| unrecognizable by the time it hits the screen. If you | | | | looks sloppy, it's not going to matter that you're an |
| find yourself stopping repeatedly, saying things like, | | | | expert on the subject matter. |
| "Wait, that's not what I meant to say..." then you can | | | | Can I afford a ghostwriter? |
| assume you might be getting yourself into a very | | | | Hey, we're not cheap. Pricing ranges all over the |
| long affair. | | | | board, from anywhere around $50 per page up to |
| Do I have the patience? | | | | $250. As in most professions, you pretty much get |
| As any good writer will tell you, effective writing is | | | | what you pay for. But realize that asking a |
| actually mostly rewriting. When we write a sentence, | | | | professional writer to set aside some time to |
| or a paragraph, or a page, we've just started the | | | | compose a decent piece of work - several months |
| writing process. We know that there's always a | | | | or more for a book - isn't going to come without a |
| better way to write what we just wrote. And so we | | | | price tag. If you decide it's worth it, just make sure |
| go back through the sentence or the paragraph or | | | | you're hiring the right person and make sure all the |
| the page, and we clean it up, edit it, chop stuff out, | | | | terms of payment are spelled out in advance. |
| add stuff, consider the word choices we've made, | | | | Writing is a skill like anything else. Some people want |
| and make certain we've made the writing as clear as | | | | to trust it to professionals, just like they'd call a |
| possible. It can be a painstaking process, but it's | | | | lawyer for legal help, or a plumber to fix their leaking |
| necessary. | | | | pipes. Other people don't mind giving it a go |
| How are my organizational skills? | | | | themselves, and some have enough skill to pull it off. |
| Lots of people stop before they even get started, | | | | It's not a decision that should be made lightly. If the |
| sitting with tons of great ideas in their heads, or on | | | | project is important enough, take a long, serious look |
| little scraps of notepaper, but without any real idea | | | | at your own abilities and decide what the best route |
| how to take those ideas and organize them, let alone | | | | is for you. |