How-To-Article -- In a "how to build a staircase" article you need to convey the specific size and weight of the lumber used, the type and size of the bolts/ screws/ nails, various lumber treatments used to waterproof wood (if it is for outdoors), and many other specifics.
Murder Mystery -- You may want to mention some portion of the staircase construction if the murderer deliberately creates a fault in a staircase he is building - which he will use to kill his mistress.
Romance Novel -- You will mention very little about the construction of the staircase if the only thing that hero and heroine do is kiss at the foot of the stairs.
*Know what you are talking about. Only people seriously interested in your topic will read exposition. Fakers are quickly exposed.
*Know your purpose. A clear purpose will help you decide on things like what order to provide your information and what you should emphasize.
*Know what your audience knows and doesn't know. Don't write for both the beginner and the expert. You'll bore both.
*Use headings, short paragraphs, lists, subtopics, and bold print to make your reader's search for information easier.
PUBLISHING NEWS
Crowded markets: chic-lit, science fiction, and murder mystery. Loyal
readers to a select group of writers generating good sales figures, but
publishers are wary to admit any newcomers into this over-competitive
market.
Check it out at: http://www.zirdnews.com/
Jan and Feb: Romance, ContemporaryAddress: 1400 East 35th St., Texarkana, AR 71854
Mar and Apr: Comedy, Contemporary
May and Jun: Historical, Contempory
Jul and Aug: Thriller/Mystery/Suspense, Contemporary
Sep and Oct: Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Supernatural, Contemporary
Nov and Dec: Biblical, Contemporary
outside and may have you dreaming of the beach... but autumn is closer than you think!!! Our NJCWG - A REASON TO WRITE conference is scheduled for October 8, 2005 -- less than 12 weeks away. Are you ready? 
"Take a page of prose that interests you. It can be anything—from the dense, imagistic writing of Gabriel GarcÃa MárquezÂ’s One Hundred Years of Solitude to a passage from a Virginia Woolf novel to a manual on a home renovation technique. Now, break it into poetry. Take out anything that doesnÂ’t interest you. Prune out small words such as ‘theÂ’ and ‘a,Â’ and look for surprises, metaphors and unexpected combinations. The result may be a complete poem (be sure to credit the original) or simply an exercise to stretch your imagination. Adding your own lines of response can make it into an entirely different poem."CONVERSATION
To be part of the WD monthly Conversation, e-mail your brief response (up to 50 words) to writersdig@fwpubs.com with "Dearly Departed" as the subject line.In the August issue of WD, we discuss how to kill off characters in your
fiction. Which literary character(s) do you feel deserved to live? Or maybe you
think thereÂ’s one who shouloffered been offed in Chapter 1 but makes it to the end.
POPULAR FICTION"Yes, and the audience is there. For one thing, we have increasingly
sophisticated readers. TheyÂ’re less inclined to accept that old chivalric
code of the fast-draw contest and want to know more about the grittiness of
the actual West. And if youÂ’re asking me if thereÂ’s a market for it, think
about writers such as Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtry, Jane Smiley and
Barbara Kingsolver. All of these people are writing historical Westerns now,
but theyÂ’re painting on a much broader canvas.There are also greater repercussions now to the actual points of action than weÂ’ve seen in the past. These days, writers arenÂ’t just dealing with the fact that somebody
was shot down in the street. They’re also dealing with the family—the characters left behind.The modern Western is more rooted in humanity than it was in the past. This was always true of the great Westerns. But when so many people tried to imitate them, it became like a 10th carbon copy—it just got worse and worse. Unfortunately, the Western has always been judged by its more mediocre work."
YouÂ’ve been given a one-year deadline and a $1 million signing bonus to write aMORE...
300-page novel. ItÂ’s the day before the deadline and youÂ’ve written one page.
What are you going to tell your editor? Write an elaborate excuse thatÂ’s so
clever and believable that it becomes the plot of your novel.
"I lean and loafe at my ease... observing a spear of summer grass."
From Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
