Organic Printing - you've heard of Organic Gardening -- Well...

 How About Green Printing? Shel Horowitz is the master of green -- Comments welcome.

Seven Weeks to A Greener Business
Week 1: Green Printing
By Shel Horowitz

Permission to Publish: As long as the biographical slug is
included unedited (or edits cleared with the author), permission
is freely given to republish and repost, in whole or in part. The
slug must be included.

HADLEY, MA: Printing is one of the easiest places to go more
Green in your business, whether creating documents on your own
office printers and copiers or buying commercial printing
services.

In your own office:
•       Switch to duplexing printers, and train staff to print on
both sides of the page.
•       Buy only recycled printer/copier paper, with a high
percentage of post-consumer.
•       Use draft mode to consume less toner.
•       Consider, before printing, whether reading on screen is good
enough—do you really need a paper copy?
•       Rather than ordering (and then wasting) quantities of
letterhead, design electronic letterhead you can incorporate into
your document so it automatically prints each time you need it.

When buying printing services:
•       Specify recycled or FSC-certified paper.
•       Inquire about soy and vegetable inks.
•       Buy from a printer who is committed to eliminating or
reducing water pollution and paper waste.
•       Only print as much as you really need.

The primary author (with Jay Conrad Levinson) of the acclaimed
new book Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green,
www.guerrillamarketinggoesgreen.com, Shel Horowitz is a marketing
and environmental consultant/speaker who helps businesses not
only go Green but also effectively market their Green commitment.
Emphasizing affordable, eco-friendly, and ethical approaches, he
has served clients across North America, Europe, and Asia. He is
the founder of the International Association of Earth-Conscious
Marketers and the Business Ethics Pledge. For a directory of all
his websites, please visit www.shelhorowitz.com Reach him at
413-586-2388, shel@principledprofit.com, Twitter @ShelHorowitz


Accurate Writing & More, 16 Barstow Lane , Hadley, MA 01035, United States

Cardboard Characters?

If you are having trouble with your characters being flat and boring to your reader, you will certainly lose many that you could have called fans. "An attentive writer is midwife, nanny, uncle and undertaker to the story's characters." says Paul Raymond Martin in The Writer's Little Instruction Book. The title suggests there are 385 Secrets for Writing Well & Getting Published. and I certainly agree.

You must remember that your characters best side is reflected in their reaction/action from the detritus of personal experience.  Their deepest emotions are the stuff of reader enjoyment. If you can remember how it felt when you tripped on stage as you picked up your High School diploma, or caught your heel in your prom gown and nearly exposed your...well let the imagination fill in the blanks. Remembering your emotional reactions to certain situations are sure to give you methods and means to translate your characters emotions into real life for your reader. Don't squander that opportunity use it for all your worth. Create fallibly, memorable characters. Characters In Search of an Author could help you design that perfect mix of character and emotion.

Write More Sell More Coaching

Click Here to go to the Morning Nudge

A Sinner's Guide To Confession

If that title doesn't peak your curiosity, what will? Phyllis Schieber takes us on a
sneak peak of her two outstanding books today.

A Sinner's Guide to Confessions
Kaye and Barbara are longtime friends, now in their fifties. Ellen, who is several years younger, develops a friendship with the other two women years later, solidifying this close-knit group. The three women are inseparable, yet each nurtures a secret that she keeps from the others.

Willing Spirits

Jane Hoffman and Gwen Baker, both teachers and in their forties, have a friendship that helps them endure. Years after Gwen is abandoned and left to raise two sons alone, she finds herself in love with a married man. After Jane is humiliated by her husband’s infidelity and Gwen must face her own uncertain path, the two women turn to each other. Now, as each is tested by personal crisis; Jane and Gwen face new challenges—as mothers, as daughters, as lovers. And in the process, they will learn unexpected truths about their friendship—and themselves.


To Young Women Everywhere
I came across a photograph of my friend Claire and I from the summer of 1969, the summer we spent touring Israel. I was sixteen, newly graduated from high school, and Claire was eighteen, almost nineteen.  Because I had skipped two grades, all of my friends were older. The photograph was taken at Eilat, Israel’s southern most city,  located at the northern tip of the Red Sea. Claire and I are horsing around in the water. I am perched on an inner tube, wearing a black and white bikini and a huge smile. I am trying to help Claire onto the tube as she struggles. She is also laughing. We look very happy. We had been camping on the beach for several days. It was incredibly beautiful. We were incredibly beautiful. When I stared at the photograph, I remembered my reaction when I first saw the photograph more than forty years ago. In those pre-digital days, you had to bring in the film and wait for the pictures to come back. I remember that I did not want anyone to see this particular picture because a little roll of fat was visible at my belly. I remember thinking that I looked so fat. I was always trying to hide some part of myself—my large breasts, my full thighs, my something, anything. I had a friend in graduate school who once told me that I look like a “Renaissance porno queen.” I laughed, but I did not want to look like that. I knew he meant it as a compliment, but I embarrassed by his observation. I should have been proud. What I would give today for that body… there are no words. And that is why I have a message for young women everywhere. I want you to look in the mirror and marvel at the tautness of your skin, the way your breasts stay high on your chests, and the lovely and luxuriant thickness of your hair. Stand naked in front of a mirror and appreciate your beauty, savor it, and celebrate it. It merits your appreciation.
These days I often think of all the times I was self-conscious about my appearance. I wanted to look like Claire. She was the perfect Sixties girl—tall and thin, long, straight, dark hair, and legs that began at her neck and just kept going. I had a crown of wild, curly hair. I also had a formidable chest, and curves that belonged on an older woman. It was a body that emerged when I was fourteen.  I bemoaned my appearance every time I allowed myself to take a peek at my naked body. My mother was adept at letting out the darts in blouses and dresses that were invariably tight. I straightened my hair, wore clothes that hid my full breasts, and dieted constantly, even though I was not fat (What I regret is not learning to exercise early in my life and taking something, anything into adulthood. Stand warned al you young beauties: exercise will prolong your beauty, and whether or not you believe me, you will be sorry if you don’t learn to exercise now). I also I wanted to look like Twiggy or Cher, the role models for
If I could go back to those years, I would flaunt my voluptuousness with abandon. I would never have straightened my hair (I used a horrible smelling product, Curl Free that made my hair coarse and lifeless. At night I would pull my hair up into a ponytail, roll it backwards onto an empty frozen juice can and secure it with long, metal clips. For good measure, I often ironed my hair on the ironing board, using my mother’s iron and a damp towel. My poor mother would monitor this process, fearful that I would set myself on fire!), and I would have looked more kindly on my body instead of wishing for thinner thighs, longer legs, and smaller breasts. The good news is that I have finally come of age. I am the woman I wanted to be then. It is true that my body has not followed suit, but I am comfortable with myself, a remarkable achievement. I practice yoga six times a week, whether I want to or not. And I ride a stationary bike at least three times a week. I’m working on that one.  I write about women like myself. We are friends, and wives, and mothers, daughters, and sisters. The women in my novels, WILLING SPIRITS and THE SINNER”S GUIDE TO CONFESSION are also the woman I am still becoming. I am ever mindful of how times passes, how much I have yet to do, and how grateful I am that I no longer straighten my hair. Of course, I am still critical of body, but I express that criticism with gentleness and humor. I know who I once was, and I know who I am now. It was good then, and it’s better now.

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Sinners Guide to Confession and Willing Spirits virtual tour. To learn more about the tour, visit http://bookpromotionservices.com/2010/05/04/phyllis-schieber-blog-outreach. You can also learn more about Phyllis Schieber and her books at http://www.phyllisschieber.wordpress.com

Please Join Us Tomorrow for a Special Event

Phyllis Schieber is an awesome woman with much to tell you. Her books The Sinner's Guide to Confession and Willing Spirits are not to be missed. Stop by tomorrow to find out more.

Ginger Visits Printed Words (No, not from Gilligan's Island)

Billie was kind enough to offer me a spot on her blog, and I hope you don’t mind if I “recycle” an oldie but goodie from my own blog a couple years back.I think the message bears repeating, plus I’m suffering from the after affects of sedation dentistry and couldn’t put a creative blog together if my life depended on it.I loved this one…hope you do too.


A New Soap Opera for Authors

Between belonging to two critique groups, being edited by different publishing houses and reading information on blogs, I feel more confused than ever. It seems that rules change from house-to-house, and while the lines blur, I’m very clear on the following traps we authors fall into while writing. I just wonder why some people refuse to crawl out after they’ve tripped up. I keep reading the same mistakes over and over so I’m offering a few helpful hints that I’ve garnered from friends with much more experience than yours truly.  I trust that their awesome grasp on what NOT to do when writing that winning novel will help me get famous someday. *lol*.

I’m going to address a few areas in no particular order:

1. ACTION/REACTION Sequence
The sequence makes sense. Before someone can react, something has to happen first. What may seem simple can be demonstrated with the following examples:
John jumped up and screamed when the ghost appeared from the closet. Or A ghost appeared from the closet, and John jumped up and screamed.
Sally bumped her head when the car hit a curb. OR The car hit a curb and Sally bumped her head. Both make sense, but the rule is: Action first, Reaction second.
The ghost appearing is the ACTION, and I believe John’s REACTION is apparent.
Sally probably wouldn’t bump her head unless the car hit a curb. Make sense?

2. ‘THAT’ bad habit
When I write, and I notice others do the same, I tend to stick in ‘that’ where not necessary. I almost did it when I wrote the first sentence. Out of habit, I wanted to put “I notice THAT others do the same. A rejection I received a few years back noted I used ‘that’ far too frequently, so now I’ve become accustomed to thinking before I type it. I normally would have typed the preceding sentence thusly: A recent rejection THAT I received noted THAT I used ‘that” far too frequently, so now THAT I’ve become accustomed to thinking… I think THAT you get the picture…oops. I think you get the picture.

3. BACK STORY
Almost every story we write requires some back story (facts leading up to current), but the secret is peppering it throughout so that we don’t bury the reader with it. Novels are supposed to unfold as they’re read—happen in the moment and draw the reader into the action. If you spend paragraph upon paragraph TELLING what has already happened rather than SHOWING what is happening now, you’ve most likely lost the reader’s interest. Give enough detail to bring the reader up to speed but don’t drown them in facts that may not impact the story at all. It’s an acquired talent and one I’m working hard on.

The same goes for describing the scene. The reader doesn’t need to know the location of every tree on the property and how many birds nest in them. Better yet, paint a mental image of the tree shading the heroine’s window and the light filtering through the leaves. I recently read a drafted story in which the author fully-described everything in the heroine’s kitchen, down to the knives in the drawer. I tried to explain that you might mention the counter as the heroine moved past and picked up a knife from the drawer, but three paragraphs describing everything in the room soon grew tedious and overdone.

4. RUE
Resist the Urge to Explain = RUE. A good writer enables the reader to determine emotions from the text. Rather than TELL the reader that your heroine is sad, use descriptive sentences to reflect it. Let the reader assign the emotion. Which would you prefer?

It was Cindy’s birthday and she felt sad.
Or
The red circle on the calendar mocked Cindy—her birthday. But today seemed like any other day. As she sifted the mail, rifling through unwanted catalogs and advertisements, she hoped for one single personally-addressed envelope. She found none.

After writing, editing and learning, I'm so much more aware of unnecessary information we add to our stories when our dialogue should show the feeling and eliminate the need to explain what the reader should feel or see.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE:
Excited, Sasha entered the room. She felt tense and nervous at the same time. She needed water to soothe her thirst.
Could be: Sasha burst into the room. (Entered versus burst – using an action verb to show her excitement). Her heart raced, yet her jaw tensed. (showing her tenseness and nervousness). She smacked her lips, hoping for saliva to combat the cottony feel in her mouth. (showing her thirst).

Okay...so I'm not Nora Roberts...I wrote this on the spur of the moment. :) I think you get the message.

5. NAMES
If you have an exchange going on between two people and it is clear to reader, there is no need to continually use the characters name in the dialogue. One must assume the reader is intelligent enough to determine who is speaking to whom with a minimal of hints and tags. Wouldn’t you find this a tad tedious? The concept is taken from something I recently proofread for one publisher:

Jane and Fred sat next to the fire, enjoying their wine. Fred turned to her, with the flames reflecting in his eyes. "Jane, I'm having a wonderful time. Thank you for inviting me."
"Me too, Fred. I'm so glad you came."
"Jane, would you like me to refill your glass?"
"No thank you, Fred. I'm fine. I get giddy if I drink too much."

The same applies for starting every sentence with ‘she/he’. She heard the bell chime can be The bell chimed. She saw the sunset become an artist’s pallet of colors can be The sunset became an artist’s pallet of colors. He or she doesn’t have to identify with everything. Words are better spent describing action to your readers. In the character’s POV, the reader will assume who is doing the feeling, looking, sensing, etc.

I notice this is a trap into which most new writers fall. (See, I didn’t end with a preposition)

6. TENSES (Past, Present, Past imperfect…blah, blah, blah.)

I'm still trying to acclimate to reading things written with 'could see', 'could hear' 'could speak', 'had been missing'. Although I realize it's a style, I've had it beaten into me that 'saw', 'heard', 'spoke', and 'missed' make the story unfold in the moment, and for me are preferred.

Consider, 'she could see his face, even in the dim light. The only sound she could hear was crickets outside the window. If only he could speak the words she longed for. She had been missing him far more than she expected.'

Now consider...She saw his face, even in the dim light. The only sound she heard was the crickets’ chirping outside the window. If only he spoke the words she longed for. She'd missed him far more than she expected.

Okay...CORNY! Still, I prefer this style when at all possible. I realize that dialogue can be in past tense, but I want to feel my stories happening NOW.

We all write so differently. Each of us have a style or flair innately our own. I’m willing to make some changes and concessions during editing, but one thing I will fight for…keeping my own voice. Everyone should. It’s what makes us unique and helps us stand apart from the crowd. The hard thing is trying to convince your editor of that. *lol*

What things have you learned during your editing process, and was this at all helpful? I hope so.

Don’t forget to stop by my website at http://www.gingersimpson.com and please come visit my blog, “Dishin’ It Out,”  http://mizging.blogspot.com

 Ya’ll come.

 Ginger

Blog Tour for Money Isn't Everything

Hold on to your hats on Monday July 5, 2010 the blog tour for Money Isn't Everything takes off. The first stop on this train of fun will be with Fran Orenstein's blog. Fran is  a pretty amazing author in her own right...She has graciously offered to host me with some information and prizes - go to http://franorenstein.blogspot.com and join in the fun, you'll be glad you did.  This is one of Fran's books. It makes you want to grab it right up doesn't it?
Hope to see you there - if you can't make it check out the calendar at my website for more dates and places. Billie's Tea and Murder website Just click on the blog tour button on the top right of the page.