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The Great American novel is, right at this minute, right there on the tip of your toes. (People still wonder why you learned to type with your feet; and you would write a funny story based on that, if you could only decide how to get it started.) If you could just come up with a title, you might be able to go on to the first paragraph. Sound familiar?

What is Writer’s Block?

There could be many reasons you’re not writing:

* Is there something troubling your mind, distracting you? Like that sink full of dirty dishes? Or the bills you haven’t paid because you haven’t sold an article in weeks, let alone got started on that book? Are you worried and under pressure? That’s not writer’s block. That’s anxiety. Do something about it. Wash the dishes and go out and get a temporary day job to pay the bills. Write at night, unfettered by worries, and maybe you’ll get back in the swing of it.

* But if your schedule is the problem, adding an outside job to it is not going to remove the time pressures that are keeping you from writing.

* Maybe you’re trying too hard, everyone works at their own speed. You may just need some time away from the word processor. During relaxation periods your mind relaxes and your brain is free to come up with new ideas and get you fired up to get back in action.

* Maybe it’s just not meant to be. Ever consider the possibility that writing is really not for you? Maybe you’re just not the whiz your 10th grade English teacher led you to believe. Maybe you never knew that, when you got into this business, it’s so much work for (typically) very little money. Or maybe, given a choice between writing and watching another rerun of Gilligan’s Island, you would rather be in front of the TV. It’s time to become a plumber.

Writing – a Job Not for the Faint of Heart

Let’s say you’re good at writing fiction and that you enjoy it, can put up with the occasional long hours, and the rewards suit you fine. Why has your productivity suddenly stopped dead?

Maybe your current project isn’t the piece of cake you expected. If it’s going nowhere, you need to put it aside for a little while. Come back to it with a fresh mind. If it still looks like it’s going nowhere, abandon it. This was not the story for you to tell. Learn the lesson and move on.

Do you find yourself going back over what you’ve written again and again, editing it, rather than moving forward with the story? Do you know you’re good, but you’re convinced you could be better? You’re being a perfectionist. All of this is keeping you from moving forward, and it’s also creating self-doubts about your talent. Force yourself to stop tweaking and get the job done.

Anyone for Mental Calisthenics?

For whatever reasons you’re blocked, here are some exercises that can bring you out of it:

* Write out a decision tree. This is simply two columns, with the first column listing reasons to proceed with your blocked project; the other column shows reasons why you shouldn’t. Write whatever comes to mind. Then go back to critique and revise your answers. This can help you re-conceptualize the project and pinpoint where the blockage is originating.

* Start writing the first chapter. Put down whatever you’re thinking. It doesn’t have to make sense, it doesn’t have to be good, but it should, at some point, lead you into whatever you’re going to write about. It should eventually begin to flow. You can toss the crap out once the project is done. Many writers find that their work improves if they throw out the first chapter anyway, good or not.

* Do research. You will probably want some background color or detail somewhere in your work. Take a character, a key concept, a setting, an idea, whatever may or may not appear in your work, and research it to death. Take notes. While you’re doing this, you may come up with mental pictures relating to something in your story. Write those down. By the time you’re done, you will have something to get you started on the story.

* Jump ahead. If your narrative or characters are going nowhere, start a new chapter that’s not in sequential order. Imagine what’s going to happen to your characters long into the future. Jump backward, if you’d like, presenting some back story you had not yet included or elaborated upon. Skip anywhere you want. You can link all of these times and locations later.

Feeding Your Obsession or Compulsion

Some people force themselves past a block. They set a time each day they will start writing and a time at which they will stop. Should they blank out one day, they will sit there staring at the computer screen. They are disciplined. They’re working on the clock. For some, this works. For others, the artificial regimentation only adds to the frustration. You might want to try these ideas instead:

* Visualize – not just your story but your finished project. See, in your mind’s eye, your editor looking it over and enthusing. What is his favorite part? See your book prominently displayed at Border’s and Barnes & Noble. Give yourself some positive encouragement. Let’s face it, writing is not easy, and you don’t always hit the jackpot. Allowing yourself to dream keeps the enthusiasm alive.

* Network. You should belong to a writer’s club or salon. Talk with other members about your block. They have all had it, too, and can give you some help. They might give you some ideas about your story points that are giving you trouble, too. A word of advice, though: never hand a finished manuscript to anyone but your editor. If they read it at all, their usual comment will be “I loved it! It’s great, but” It’s that “but” that will kill you. People with no experience as writers or editors always feel obliged, with a non-published manuscript, to tell you, in essence, how they would have written it. You wrote it, you don’t care how they would have written it, but that “but” still hurts.

* Jog your mind with some physical exercise.

* Change how you work. Take your laptop from your home office down to the local coffeehouse to work. Work for a while using a pencil and legal pad. Sit out on the lawn with a recorder and hold a dialogue with yourself about the project.

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Filed under: Article Writing

Career coaches are an invaluable tool to sales, marketing, advertising, and creative professionals. Small business owners and even individuals can be assisted with personal growth, career challenges, business advertising, career advances, new business ventures, attaining goals, and life challenges by contracting the services of a career coach. Putting your mind to something will give results, as long as you really want it.

A percentage of career coaches go through a formal program at one of the more prestigious training sites. You will know this by looking for the credentials of your prospective mentor. However, once the course is completed, the path of study is just beginning for good career coaches.

A career coach will need to learn many invaluable lessons from these world famous programs. Some of these important lessons include imagination, image, and client satisfaction. This experience will follow them through their career and will help them to be successful.

This is more than just placing professionals in positions in career management. These people need to be given guidance on the career they are interested in and how to make it happen. This then leads to having to balance care and personal life. This is another area that can benefit from coaching which not only helps in the professional world but also will help with overall balance and happiness of life.

It may be beneficial for them to be multilingual. In order for them to do the needed research, internet access is required, along with a PC and the proper software programs. A phone, a printer, and a fax will certainly prove invaluable. They may also look into and manage online channel and affiliate partnerships to increase traffic and expand the client base.

A career coach has many duties; including helping others find the right job opportunity and improving their current career. There are two options: a career management coach and a career marketing coach. A career marketing coach has various duties. For example, he/she might build a contact list, post and edit resumes and suggest ways to advance in one’s career. This coach’s goal is to promote the client in the highly competitive career market.

Career coaches help sales, marketing, advertising, and creative professionals, as well as a variety of small business owners and individuals, in areas such as personal growth, career transition, business advertising, job placement, launching new businesses, every day life challenges, goal setting and in many other fields. Coaching will help professionals and contribute immensely to their success. It can also help them balance the pressures of a career and home life. There are both career management coaches and career marketing coaches, who help their clients position themselves in the job market with networking and resume advice.

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Filed under: Management

Insuring your automobile keeps getting pricier. Car insurance rates in California are higher than in most other states. Read on to learn how to spend less on auto insurance without giving up the necessary coverage. Less expensive does not mean low quality if you follow these tips.

First, shop around and ask different insurance providers for quotes. These companies want your business and they are usually willing to answer questions. When comparing, ensure that you ask for quotes on the same coverage in order to make a fair comparison. It would also be advisable to ask about the typical time it takes to process claims.

Have anti-theft devices installed on your car if it doesn’t have any yet. Most of the more modern cars have anti-theft devices already installed on them. These safety features are considered by insurers in giving you a discounted premium quote.

If you already have insurance on your home or apartment, look into using this provider for your auto insurance as well. Discuss your options with your existing insurer and you could be eligible for five to twenty percent off of your premiums.

Find out if you are eligible for a group discount. Sometimes providers offer a break on auto insurance for people that participate in various clubs or groups. Ask for a list of eligible groups.

When you have an accident or other claim, the lower your deductible, the less you spend on the claim. But higher deductibles cost less and will result in lower premium payments. Consider the savings and decide whether raising your deductible is worthwhile.

Older cars may not be worth full collision and comprehensive. Take a look at the value of the vehicle and compare the value to the cost of insuring for collision and comprehensive. If the car is worth less than the premiums, consider removing this coverage. However, it is not a good idea to lower your coverage for medical payments or liability.

The above are just a few pointers to keep in mind on how to get cheap car insurance. Be a smart shopper, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and you will get the best deal possible on an auto insurance without breaking the bank.

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Filed under: Business

Your web page is your internet business’ front to the world, and the impression it makes is what will make or break your business. There’s been an awful lot of design thought put into making web sites more attractive, some good – some bad. Here are a few Web Marketing Strategies we’ve learned since the web first started going commercial in 1993.

First, aim for consistency, and usability above all else. Yes, we know splashing colors around is fun. So is putting in a jillion different types of interactive media. Ultimately, every single widget you add does one thing to your site: Makes it slow.

Worse yet, it makes it seem cluttered. Look to Google for an example of a de-cluttered web site. It’s got a logo, a text box and three links on a plain white background, and it’s the most widely trafficked web site in the world.

Avoid using components that require the user to download plug-ins to view. You can probably expect someone to have a Flash, Shockwave or PDF plug in, and a Java Virtual Machine is all but standard these days but anything that requires a download and install is a barrier to entry. On a similar note, recall that usability is king on the web. Don’t overuse special effects and images; waaay too many web sites out there look cluttered because they have a bajillion animated GIFs strewn about, on top of a flashy (and unreadable) color schemeusually with an annoying piece of music running on a constant loop in the background.

Choosing a good theme, colors and layout will compensate for avoiding some of the more fancy options. Keeping my page consistent with the use of common plug-in’s and limited effects, is of great benefit with smart web marketing strategies and will be for you too if you implement it.

When designing your site, it is important to let people know what your contents are right away. Have a good site index and clear intentions. Your messages need to be conveyed in a clear way without using jargon that most people would not understand.

You want to reach as large of an audience as possible, so communicating clearly is crucial for web marketing strategies. Communicating on your web page is much like conversation in real life. If your information and what you always have to say remains the same, people will get bored and probably not engage you in conversation much with you. The same applies to your web page.

If your information is always the same, people won’t always come back. Make a point to update your site regularly and let visitors know that you do that. You will be able to keep attention better if people know that they will find new information on subsequent visits.

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Filed under: Internet Marketing

In just a short space of time digital cameras have taken over the photographic market place. Storing the information as digital-bytes is how this type of camera keeps the pictures you have taken, safe and ready to view, store or print! With the upsurge of home computers it means that almost anyone can store and then play with the images on their own pc. The term used for how these images are stored is called pixels; a series of dots using one’s and zero’s in the same way that a computer stores information.

These cameras still use lenses in much the same way that conventional cameras do. However, it is how the digital camera captures the light that makes all the difference because it achieves this by using a special sensor as opposed to film. A feature of the better quality versions is they have a sensor that converts light into electrical charges using a different system to their less expensive cousins. The less expensive capture system called CMOS is generally in lower end cameras and probably won’t replace the more expensive CCD although it does an admirable job.

The CMOS device is this reason that many models have come down in price so much as they are easier and cheaper to produce than their CCD cousins. Although the images in a digital camera end up the same, the CCD and CMOS sensors capture light differently; the causal observer would probably never notice this difference though. Some useful tips are mentioned here if you are currently looking for a camera like this. Look for models with over 6 megapixels and you won’t go far wrong as they will provide decent images; with the prices continually dropping, high resolution cameras are now more affordable.

Many people rave about a digital cameras zoom power but the image is being artificially magnified so always try for an optical zoom even if it is one with only a low magnifying power; optical zooms can produce some interesting effects. Although it shouldn’t be a problem, opt for rechargeable batteries as they can always come in handy and you don’t waste as much money on the disposable ones. Many people are just happy to point and shoot but if you want to do a little more then try to buy one with more functions; just like some of these here:

* Special night time shots * Web cam function * Negative image

With large megapixel models, image storage is another issue to look out for and a storage card will be necessary. Although larger storage cards have plummeted in price, a 1GB card should be enough for most peoples needs; some cameras won’t accept very high capacity cards anyway.

Cameras are now very tiny compared to a few years ago so you can actually carry around a high specification variant in your pocket and still be able to take fantastic pictures. These smaller models are very discreet and don’t make you feel as if you are on a photographic safari but you can still take professional looking pictures. I hope these few tips will help you choose a camera you enjoy using for a long time. Digital cameras are here to stay but expect even greater advancements in the future.

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Filed under: Computers & Technology