Foreknowledge Trading on 9/11

I'm amazed at this myself.

At the time this came out I heard and dismissed it as conspiracy. I'm working on a new novel series right now and the research for it led me into this area -- which is great for fiction - as conspiracies always are. The more I read however, the more I don't like what I'm reading. So I thought I would post a bit of what I'm finding, and let it land on you at face value.

Tips from Authors for Authors

1

“I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.” — Harper Lee

2

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” ― W. Somerset Maugham

3

“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.” — George Orwell

4

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” ― Robert Frost

5

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” ― Ray Bradbury

6

“Write while the heat is in you. … The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with.” — Henry David Thoreau

7

“The first draft of anything is shit.” ― Ernest Hemingway

8

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” ― Jack London

9

“In the planning stage of a book, don’t plan the ending. It has to be earned by all that will go before it.” ― Rose Tremain

10

“The first sentence can’t be written until the final sentence is written.” — Joyce Carol Oates

11

“Always be a poet, even in prose.” ― Charles Baudelaire

12

“Don’t go into great detail describing places and things… You don’t want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.” ― Elmore Leonard

13

“Leave a decent space of time between writing something and editing it.” ― Zadie Smith

14

“My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying.” ― Anton Chekhov

15

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Denotative and Connotative and the difference between

Be aware of the difference between denotative words and connotative words. 

A  denotative  word  conveys  information:  "hat,"  "yellow, " "twenty-five, " "book," "cat," "big." Such words speak to the practicalist in us,  to the data bank and statistician. A connotative word, on the other hand, is calculated to arouse emotional  response,  to  give  a  fillip  to  imagination,  to project a mood in our hearts and/or on our senses. To denote a woman,  I can refer to her as  a "female," a "teacher,"  or  a  "customer."  I  can  also  speak  of her  as  a "bimbo," a "maiden," or a "luminous creature," all connotative.

The  distinction  between  denotative  and  connotative, then, is that connotative words express a writer's opinions and  personal  feelings  while  denotative  words  state  the facts.  As  a  careful  writer,  you  will  be  aware  of these subtle,  yet significant,  differences.

For example,  if you  refer  to a person as  being "tired" you  convey  a matter-of-fact,  denotative  message.  If you describe the person as being "weary," the image becomes more personalized, as it does with the terms "drained" or "burned-out."  These  words  are  all  synonyms,  perhaps. Yet each carries a different degree of emotional charge. Be aware of what these charges are and use them knowingly. The following verse provides an astutely whimsical example of just how much connotations count, in life as well as in literature:

Call a  woman a  kitten,  but never a  cat; 
You  can call her a  mouse,  cannot call her a  rat; 
Call a  woman a  chick,  but never a  hen; 
Or you surely will not be her caller again. 
You  can call her a  duck,  cannot call her a goose; 
You  can call her a  deer,  but never a  moose; 
You  can call her a lamb,  but never a sheep; 
Economic she likes,  but you can't call her cheap. 

If you can't find the precise word,  move on and come back to it later.

Most writers discover this trick on their own, especially if they write on deadlines.  Better just to put an  X  on  the problem word, keep writing, and come back later. You'll bring a fresh eye to the decision then, and probably a fine solution.

Which  brings  up  an  important  rule  of  thumb  for writing practice in general: When your writing is going well, don't let anything stop your flow.  Don't get hung up on the grammatical or factual details. Just leave them, get on  with  the  brainstorming,  finish  the  entire piece,  then return to fix  the fine points. 

Catch Glenn on Twitter Noir Writer

And Check out the new site for Noir Stories -- Noir Street -- Tales of Shadow and Lust

Sales vs Marketing

Sales and marketing are closely interlinked and are aimed at increasing revenue. As sales and marketing are closely intertwined, it becomes hard to realise the difference between the two. In small firms, one cannot come across much difference between sales and marketing. But bigger firms have made clear distinction between marketing and sales and they have specialised people handling them independently.