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A Brief Guide to Writing Short Stories Effectively (writing short stories) A short story is basically a condensed version of a book or a rapidly progressing story. It has fewer characters than a novel and covers less amount of time. A short story generally is around 6,000 words or 6 pages. Do your research and organization before you begin to write. Outline your plot and the background. Make sure they make sense and flow together. Individually list the events of the story in the order in which they occur. Create your characters. Not just their name and role in the story, but as if they were real people with real lives. By creating more information for your characters you will get a sense of what they would do or how they would be and convey that to your writing. By creating an outline you will have a point of reference to look back upon and make sure you have included all vital points of the story. When writing a short story, you will need a captivating first paragraph. You have roughly 5 to 7 lines to appeal to your reads unlike novels that have the whole first chapter. This can actually make or break your story. You will need to grab their attention and keep it to make them want to read more. By starting the plot in the first few sentences it will make people want to know more. They will keep reading to find out who is involved and why. Keep the timeline of events brief. You are writing a short story and the timeline should match that. A timeline of a day, a week, or maybe even a month is generally the span a story should cover. Use character dialogue as a way to move the plot ahead. In a short story there is no time for general chitchat. By using the character dialogue you are deepening the plot as well as moving it along. Do not add unnecessary characters. By adding them you are wasting time one someone that is not linked to your story or its plot. Provide swift and precise details to keep the story moving. Elaborate descriptions of characters, plot, or surroundings will only waste your words and are not essential to making a good story. Use short words instead of phrases that mean the same thing. Building to the climax should be most of the story. Keep the conflicts building to the climax simple and easy to understand. You writing should be able to evoke the following emotions empathy, pain, hurt, despair, surprise, and desire just to name a few. Since the story is only a few pages long in its entirety it is necessary to maintain consistency through out the beginning, middle, and end. Make sure the dialog and plot complement each other. Keep the same point of view through out the story. You are almost ready to be published. After completing your own proofreading and editing, let someone else read it, a neighbor, your spouse, colleague, or a close friend. Even if they are not writers themselves they will be able to help point out any grammar errors. They will be able to tell you if something just doesn’t make sense. You are trying to fit a lot of captivating information in a small space; it is easy to leave something out. Something you may not catch because you know what is supposed to happen, while your will not. By following these simple rules, you will be able to write a short story that is captivating and effective. Writing short stories isn’t for everyone. Many writers like more detail and for short stories the space is just not available.

Bring These Important Tips to the Table in a Telecommuting Argument Are you tired of the sound of the alarm clock every morning? Are you equally tired of trying to figure out what to wear every day (ladies) and fighting the rush hour traffic to get to the office in time? How about spending almost your entire paycheck on gas to put in your car to get you to work? There is a way around all of this of course – telecommuting. When you telecommute to work, you can catch a little bit of extra shut eye and head to work in your pajamas, without even getting in the shower. But aside from the convenience factor, there can be a lot of other good reasons why telecommuting makes sense. If you can put together a convincing enough argument for your employer, you may find yourself going to work in your bedroom slippers before you know it. The first thing you have to keep in mind about your telecommuting argument is that you have to make sure you have plenty of evidence that telecommuting will be beneficial to your employer, not just you. Sure, you would love to be able to see the kids off to school in the morning and take your coffee break in front of your favorite soap operas, but your boss doesn’t care about all of that. Though you don’t have to hide the fact that telecommuting will obviously have its privileges for you from your boss, remember to include plenty of ammunition for benefits to the company as well. What can you bring to the table in terms of telecommuting advantages for your boss? Point your boss to a growing amount of research on the internet that shows that big companies have seen big increases in productivity when they started letting people telecommute and work from the comfort of their homes. Everyone knows that a rested and stress free employee is a productive one, and offices can be filled with more distractions than your home (gossiping employees, phones always ringing). Some companies have seen increases in productivity of over 50%, something that is sure to get your boss’s attention. You can also point out to your boss that absenteeism takes a nosedive when people telecommute. No need to take a fake sick day to get out of going to office when you work from home, and even when people are under the weather, when the office is in the next room, they still tend to get a few things done on a day that would have been a total write off otherwise. Another selling point for your boss may be that everyone else is already doing it. More than half of the companies in the US have employees that telecommute, with great results. Your boss won’t want to let the company fall behind – and your boss will know that offering what other companies have is important for employee retention. Make sure your boss knows that what you are asking for is not out of the ordinary in any way. Beyond the selling points for your boss, you can be specific about a few benefits to you. Bosses know that gas is major issue for employees – telecommuting is a way they can let you cut back on that big expense, without feeling under pressure to respond with wage hikes. If you have customers that live near your house, let your boss know it will be easier to meet them face-to-face if you work from home. Last but not least, let your boss know that you believe you can deliver more to the company from the comfort of your home - more work for the same pay is always music to an employer’s ears.

How to Use a Sample Written Proposal (sample written proposal) Writing a proposal is not an easy feat. For many, it is one of the most difficult things they will ever do in their entire lives. However, there is help for those who are confused about the proposal writing process. A sample written proposal can be used as a guide for the confused writer, and can help them with the process of writing their own proposal. Proposals usually have seven components, which include the Table of Contents, Mission Statement, Abstract, Statement of Need, Project Rationale Incorporating Literature Review, Project Narrative, and Attachments. All of these features can be found in sample proposals, which provide writers with an example of how these sections should be organized. A table of contents is used to provide a comprehensive guide to the proposal, so that readers are able to find what they need and find areas of importance within the proposal. A sample written proposal is an excellent guide to writing a mission statement. A mission statement should be 50 words or less, and states the mission of the project. The statement is used to clarify and state the project’s primary goal, and allows the reader to instantly understand what the writer is proposing without reading the entire proposal. The second section of a proposal is the abstract. It is vital to a proposal that an abstract is well-written, and initial proposal reviews or “first cuts” are often based on the abstract. The abstract of a proposal should be written after the mission statement, and should be changed over time, as the proposal develops further. Most proposal drafters will see that abstracts should be clear and understandable to all readers, including lay readers, and should be suitable for publication. Proposal abstracts should be written in third person, and should include objectives, methods to be employed, and the possible impact of the proposed project. Statement of need is the next part of a proposal. Many writers could benefit from a sample proposal when writing this section, because some drafters tend to write about more than one problem, or present their problem incorrectly. The Statement of need is the section where the drafter presents the problem that must be solved. In this section, drafters should avoid circular logic in the development of their statement of need, as it decrees that the lack of a solution is the problem. It is important to use logical progression in the statement of need, and the proposer must prove that they have an understanding of the problem. The statement should be closed with a discussion of what else is being done to solve the problem, and lead into the narrative with a description of how your idea is different and essentially better than all others. The Project Rationale Incorporating Literature Review is the next section of a proposal. All samples written proposals will have this section, as proposals must incorporate a theoretical basis with a discussion of literature. The rationale for the project should come from evidence found in the relevant literature. A sample written proposal will show drafters how to develop this section and show them how all proposals should incorporate current research into their projects. The project narrative is the sixth section of the proposal, which has six main sections. Some organizations require different proposal narratives, so in this aspect, it may be better to obtain sample proposals from several different organizations. The six sections of the project narrative section of a proposal include goals and objectives, proposed activities, facilities, resources, and project management, evaluation, outreach and dissemination, and sustainability. The final section of a proposal is the attachments’ section. Generally, attachments include the bibliography, letters of support/endorsement, and letters of publication. Drafters can also benefit from a sample written proposal when creating this section, as it will provide an example of how the section should be organized and incorporated in the overall proposal. Writing a proposal is an extensive project, and sample proposals can be used to reduce pressure while providing the proper form needed for an excellent proposal.