<p>&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">Just got back from running the <a href="http://www.writelink.co.uk/nightshades">Night Shades </a>short story workshop which was held in as part of National Short Story week.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">In spite of the snow which hit us over night, everyone turned up, (in costume!) and we all had a great time frightening ourselves with spooks and slashers of the most disturbed kind!<span>&nbsp; </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">Although we didn&rsquo;t actually finish our stories, we all went away with good outlines and plots to be honed in our own time.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">The intention is we will all meet up again for a public reading of our efforts so watch this space!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">Mean while, here are a few photos to show you what you missed!</span></p>

<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables /> <w:SnapToGridInCell /> <w:WrapTextWithPunct /> <w:UseAsianBreakRules /> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">Just got back from running the Night Shades short story workshop which was held in as part of National Short Story week.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">In spite of the snow which hit us over night, everyone turned up, (in costume!) and we all had a great time frightening ourselves with spooks and slashers of the most disturbed kind!<span>&nbsp; </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">Although we didn&rsquo;t actually finish our stories, we all went away with good outlines and plots to be honed in our own time.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">The intention is we will all meet up again for a public reading of our efforts so watch this space!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">Mean while, here are a few photos to show you what you missed!</span></p>

<p><span style="font-size: small;">Since launching the How to Write a novel and finish it ecourse a couple of weeks ago, I've had a few people contact me about mind mapping.&nbsp; It seems that this technique isn't as well known as I'd thought!</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">For those that don't know, mind mapping was first developed by Tony Buzzan upteen years ago.&nbsp; It caused a lot of interest at the time, enough for me to buy his book and make good use of his theories ever since!</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">I used mind mapping to plan out our Write-a-novel-in-a-day workshop which I ran for the local Arts Festival three years ago and regularly use it when writing articles.&nbsp; (Highly recommended).</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">It saves a vast amount of time and triggers ideas which you would probably never have thought of.&nbsp; Anyway, to cut a long story short, I've written a short article about mind mapping which goes into a bit more detail and explains how to use it.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">It's under Articles/writing articles.&nbsp; Hope it helps!:<br /><a href="http://www.writelink.co.uk/community/mod_articles/article/7019" title="Mind mapping for articles and novels">Mind Mapping For Articles And Novels</a></span></p> <p> <script src="http://ws.amazon.co.uk/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;MarketPlace=GB&amp;ID=V20070822/GB/writelink-21/8001/c826653c-f818-4fd0-8944-a4e6e97a369d" type="text/javascript"></script> </p>

<p><span style="font-size: small;">We had a superb Chat session last night discussing Profitable Bloglancing For Freelance Writers.&nbsp; One thing I discovered was quite a few members are a little mystified&nbsp;about&nbsp;how you can make your blog posts&nbsp;put some cash into your pockets.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">I have to admit I was the same until I started to delve into it!&nbsp; Anyway, just to make things a bit more clear, I've added an article to the Articles section of the site.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://bit.ly/bloglancingarticle" title="Profitable Bloglancing For Freelance Writers">PROFITABLE BLOGLANCING FOR FREELANCE WRITERS</a></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">Would be a good idea to read the Chat debrief as well.&nbsp; It's on the forums.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">By the way, <em>BLOGLANCING</em> now appears on Google!&nbsp; See what comes up when you search!</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">My last article on peanut writers has been doing the rounds of the web resulting in a few emails pointing out that some people do make money from these sites and that they do have their uses other than income generators.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">I agree they do have a point and since this form of writing is so popular I&rsquo;ve written an article to help anyone who wants to try their luck with these sites.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><strong>Cash In On Consumer Product Reviews</strong> gives you some pointers on how to maximise your chances of turning a profit from adshare sites.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The whole subject is covered in a much greater depth in <a href="http://www.writelink.co.uk/feelancewriting"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: medium;">FEE-Lance Writing, The Complete Guide To A Profitable Writing Business </span></strong></a>but the article on our Resources should give you enough information to enable you to decide whether you want to give it a try.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Would really be interested in hearing anyone's experiences!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><a href="http://www.writelink.co.uk/community/mod_articles/article/7148" title="Cash in on consumer product reviews"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>CASH IN ON CONSUMER PRODUCT REVIEWS</strong></span></span></a></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The biggest problem with being a writer is you spend too much time living in your head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The line between the real and the imaginary seems to grow ever thiner!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>In my case it is almost non-existant!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">I&rsquo;ve spent a good part of the past few days working on some spooky articles promoting the Christmas Chillers ghost story contest and having a thoroughly great time in the process!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>It makes a refreshing change from writing about sheep which is my major project at the moment and following my own advice, I&rsquo;m bubbling with ideas for scary tales. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">In fact, I managed to scare myself witless last night when negotiating the steps leading from the garage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The security lights failed and I froze in horror at the nameless beast rooting around our back door!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">It was only when I heard the string of colourful adjectives that I realised it was Nearest &amp; Dearest on all fours searching for the key he&rsquo;d dropped!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;">The spooky articles are here if you are interested:</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> <p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"></span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><a href="mod_articles/article/7218" title="Scary plots for ghostly stories"><span style="font-size: large;">SCARY PLOTS FOR GHOSTLY STORIES &ndash; A quick and easy way of plotting a ghostly tale!</span></a></span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"></span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><a href="http://www.squidoo.com/scaryghoststories" title="Scary Ghost Stories"><span style="font-size: large;">SCARY GHOST STORIES</span></a></span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"></span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"></span></strong></p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><!--409195f449b948db87111b819ab03e49--></span></p> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"></span></strong></p> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> <p>&nbsp;</p> </span></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">&lt;!--409195f449b948db87111b819ab03e49--&gt;</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size: small;">I certainly hope not!&nbsp; The reason I'm bringing this up is because I've had a couple of emails this week from new writers asking about content providing sites.&nbsp; Co-incidently this has also cropped up on the site recently so I thought I'd update an article I wrote a couple of years ago when the very same questions were being posed.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">Both the emails I received wanted to know whether you could make any real money from writing for them.&nbsp; Some writers can and some do, but most do not!</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">In fact, if you are not careful you can spend hours and hours crafting quality articles which may or may not earn you a few dollars.</span>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">In view of this, you going to expect me to advise you to steer clear of these sites and look for more lucrative opportunities.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">Wrong!&nbsp; You can make some good money posting articles to these sites, but not in the way they intend!</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small;">Take a look at the article, </span><a href="http://www.writelink.co.uk/community/mod_articles/article/7089" title="Writing For Money Or Writing For Peanuts"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Writing For Money&nbsp;Or Writing For Peanuts?</strong></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"> to find out more!</span>&nbsp;</p>