As a freelance writer, how does all of this affect you? What does it mean for freelance writers and their careers? Quite simply, the credit crisis is a good thing for freelance writers and their careers. Following is why.

Most people have seen the character worksheets that encourage writers to identify everything from shoe size and favorite food to sexual turn ons and turn offs. And while knowing your character’s most treasured possession might come in handy, it won’t tell you how your character will react when disaster strikes.

Send in a sloppy, grubby manuscript and your chances of rejection are greatly increased. Send in a smart, clean, tidy manuscript and the publishers offices will ring with the cry - “Hey, here’s someone who knows how to do it properly!”

Include as many as possible from the following:

One lead hero - Humorous, handsome, intelligent, capable at whatever he does, natural leader, one minor and endearing flaw, one distinctive characteristic, right even when apparently wrong.

William grew up with a mother who was depressed much of her life. As the oldest of three children with a father who was not around much, William took on a lot of responsibility for his mother’s wellbeing.

Before we talk shop about the best way to tag dialogue, permit me to illustrate the wrong way. Let’s bring some nursery rhyme characters to life for this, since they aren’t around to get offended.

Most of us find it hard to imagine bestselling authors struggling with their manuscripts or suffering from writers’ block. Instead we assume they have something special we have to find or develop, and we search in vain for the magical formula.

Life is the raw material from which all writers work. Personal experiences and relationships with people often stir the urge to create and inspire the stories we put on the page. Whether you’re working on a memoir or a work of fiction based on your life experiences, the first place you will probably look for [...]

Setting: Nine people, sitting in a circle of chairs at a playwriting workshop on a drizzly Saturday morning are attending a playwriting workshop at the San Juan Island Community Theatre by Bryan Willis. Tension: palpable.

What can an outstanding book proposal do for your book manuscript that the manuscript itself cannot do? If you prepare an outstanding book proposal for your manuscript, you put your work head and shoulders above writers that fail to do this important step.