The following articles contain some of my thoughts about the writing process, both for creative writing and for everyday communication, gleaned from my years of teaching college writing and my experience in completing my novel.                                                                           Ann Roscopf Allen Ten Tips to Help You Finish Writing Your Novel Trying to write a novel is ambitious, but finishing it is what gets people's attention. Many people have wonderful ideas for stories and have even begun to write books, only to procrastinate or become distracted or worse, become discouraged. These ten tips helped me keep going until I finished my first novel.   1. Set aside a time to write and keep it sacred. Make this a time when you know you are at your best and feel most creative -- Saturday mornings, late at night, whatever works for you. Make writing a priority and arrange other parts of your schedule around your sacred time.   2. Remove all distractions while you write. Turn off the television and radio. Don't answer the phone. Don't make shopping lists or do the laundry. In fact, you may need to set your writing time at a time when no one else is around to help you avoid being distracted.   3. Outline your plot. Know generally where you want your story to go. Sometimes stories and characters develop in unexpected ways, and you need to allow for that. But keep your guiding plan in mind.   4. Avoid the intimidation of a blank computer screen. Just start writing. Try freewriting about the plot of the story or a character to get "the flow" started. Perhaps writing a couple of short e-mails before you begin will get your mind-finger connection up and running. Begin a dialogue between two characters and see where your flow takes you. Sometimes that ends up in an embarrassingly bad scene, but that bad scene may just have the seeds of something a lot better in it. Once you've got something written, you can always improve it, but you have to get something, anything, written first.   5. Keep a draft mentality. Nothing you write has to be permanent. Everything can change. This alleviates a lot of the perfectionistic pressure writers put on themselves. If you get into a good flow and there's a word on the tip of your fingertips that you just can't think of, don't interrupt the flow by pondering over the word or going to the thesaurus. Leave a blank space and keep going with your writing. There will always be time to go back and look up that special word. At this stage, spelling and grammar don't matter; just write and create.   6. Don't feel compelled to begin at the beginning. You don't even have to write your story in chronological order during the drafting phase, especially if you know the main events you want your novel to cover. Work on the chapter you feel like working on. During the next writing session, work on a different scene or chapter. The first sentence and the first chapter will probably require the most work, so don't get frustrated by trying to get that perfect before you write anything else. Work on that opening passage over time.   7. Organize your files, especially if you are not going to write in order. Create a different file for each chapter you write. That way you can dip in and fool around with a few words or draft a scene and then save it, close it up, and move on to a different section of the story. This requires spending time combining, separating, and renumbering files as you rearrange the material(number and name your chapters, if only for your own convenience), but the organization enables you to work on the part you feel like working on, which also helps prevent writer's block.   8. Revise, revise, revise. Someone once said, "Writing is revising," and I believe that wholeheartedly. If you can write a perfect sentence or create a perfect scene the very first time you try it, congratulations. I can't. I change and polish and delete and rearrange and change some more until I like the sound of the words. Often the best way to revise a sentence is to delete it. Maxine Hairston advised, "Take an especially hard look at sentences that particularly delighted you when you wrote them. Too often they are precisely the ones that should go because they were written to satisfy the writer rather than instruct the reader."   9. Don't be afraid of putting yourself out there. Make a list or keep a scrapbook of mediocre writers who have written mediocre books (the incentive: "If HE can do it, so can I.") Rather than letting their success discourage you, be emboldened by writers who are just so-so or whose works don't impress you much. The only thing those writers have over you is that they have finished their books. There will always be critics, but there are critics of everything: your clothes, your driving, your business decisions, your children. Separate the wheat from the chaff: some people's criticism means something; most people's criticism is just so much noise. People keep writing novels despite the criticism. You might as well be one of them.   10. Only you can determine when you are finished. Show your writing to a trusted friend, preferably one who knows about writing. Friends are likely to tell you how wonderful your novel is, as friends will do, and this of course is not helpful at all. Read between the lines of their compliments. Ultimately, you have to be the judge of your own writing, and you have to have the confidence that you can be the judge of your own writing.   Make up your mind to finish your novel, and you can do it. The only thing standing in the way is you. 12 Ways to Research an Historical Novel Sketch of the Murder Described in A Serpent Cherished from the Memphis Appeal Avalanche Whether you are fictionalizing historical events or making up your own story, attention to detail can determine whether your novel is credible to history buffs or if they'll give it a pass. 1. Read about the general history of the locale where your story is set, so you have some context for your story. 2. If at all possible, visit the locale. Carefully observe details: types of foliage, local seasonal changes, weather conditions, architecture, perspectives. You may see interesting and important details that you wouldn't know to make up. Also, make note of what's not there; sometimes this is as important as what is there. 3. Visit local museums. They can be a wealth of information about the daily life of an era. 4. Explore old cemeteries, especially those where the models for your characters are buried. Take note of common names used in that area and era. 5. Research old newspapers. If you don't live in the area, you can usually hire a researcher through the local public library or use inter-library loan. In addition to basic information about your story, you can get a sense of the language used at the time, other contemporaneous events, even products that were available. 6. Seek out and talk to knowledgeable people. The local librarian can help you find historical societies or amateur historians. Networking can be an essential part of your research strategy since not everything is written down somewhere, especially legends, myths, anecdotes, even the location of other written sources, such as letters and diaries. 7. Consider searching for any legal documents related to your story. Old deeds, contracts, and wills are likely to be filled with more unusual information than current boilerplate legal forms. Legal research can be tricky, but historically minded lawyers may be willing to help you out. 8. Take a look at the fiction written at the time your story is set. Often this proves to be a good source of details about the time period and even the locale. 9. Don't ignore the footnotes. If you find a book related to your subject, don't limit your reading to the body of the book. Endnotes, epilogues, indexes, and other appendices can contain a great deal of useful information. 10. Consider specialized data bases and sources. War records, genealogical information, and the census can reveal worthwhile information. This type of resource is often available through university libraries or research centers. 11. Buy some good reference books: a dictionary of slang or phrase origins to make sure you don't use anachronistic language; a writer's encyclopedia or other general reference of historical lists, dates of inventions, timelines; an unabridged dictionary; a thesaurus. Building your own reference library is a smart idea for any writer. 12. Use the Internet to its full advantage. Although reference books are often a quicker way to find information, the Internet can be more thorough, if you have the time to search. If you need to know something truly esoteric, place a post on the message board of a relevant website. But if you limit your research to the Internet alone, you are truly limiting yourself. Old newspaper archives, photographs, details of a particular locale may not be readily available online. Because you'll use probably only a fraction of the information you uncover in your research, you have to decide which details are worth the time to research and which are not. Regardless, the more you know, the more comfortable you'll feel writing about a different time. Your novel will be more engaging and credible with artfully placed and historically accurate information "I'm a Terrible Writer!": A Non-Writer's Guide to Improving Your Everyday Writing   At the beginning of every semester I've ever taught college writing, at least one student in the class will issue the disclaimer, "I'm a terrible writer." That student seems to think he or she is incorrigible, hopeless, a lost cause with the written word. The poor kid was probably just the victim of too much red ink from some past English teacher. Almost without fail, I find that that student has a lot of promise as a writer and needs only a little tweaking of his or her writing. Educated people will judge you by how you write, so polishing your writing is worth the effort. Improving your everyday writing requires time, determination, and a forgiving spirit, but anybody can do it.   1. Pay attention. Have you ever bought a car and then suddenly noticed how many other cars just like yours are out on the roads?  Plainly stated, you notice what you pay attention to. Good writers pay attention to words, written and spoken. Tune in to the language "wavelength" and discover what you can learn.   2. Surround yourself with words well spoken. Pick out someone you admire whose speech you would like to emulate. Listen to talk radio or watch C-SPAN or other television shows that deal with ideas. But choose your language models carefully. The fact is that we write what we hear in our heads, and what we hear in our heads is what we surround ourselves with.   3. Read, read, read. The best writers are those who have read a lot. Reading almost any kind of prose can help you improve your writing. If you like sports, don't limit yourself to the box scores: read the sports columnists. Read the editorial pages of major newspapers, or seek out not just the news but the feature articles, especially in Sunday papers. These writers are published not just because they have something to say, but because they say it well. Immerse yourself in good writing.   4. Pull your grammar book off that dusty shelf. If you threw away your last grammar book from school, go buy another one. If you have questions about the correct form of a sentence, use that book to research the problem and the answer. Grammar is not rocket science, so don't be intimidated by it.  As quirky as English can be, a lot of grammar is actually quite logical. You don't have to memorize everything in the book: just use it when you need it. I've found that many writers have only one or two basic grammar issues that they've never had explained to them. Figure out what your misunderstandings are, and you're halfway to their resolution. Ask a knowledgeable friend for help, if you want.   5. Use your dictionary regularly. Don't depend on spell check. Spell check can be a safety net before you send out a piece of writing to your boss, but train your brain to become your spell checker. Make a list of words you regularly misspell (spell check can tell you what they are). If you hear a word you are unfamiliar with, look it up to see how it is spelled. Become curious about words. This is why a dictionary can be so important: you not only can learn the correct spelling of words, but you can learn how they are used in different contexts. You can even discover a word's roots, which might help you make sense of its meanings and spelling. Spell check just isn't enough.   6. Use your thesaurus sparingly. A thesaurus is a great tool for reminding you of words you already know how to use, but if you are unfamiliar with a word or have never heard or read it being used, don't use it. There is no more obvious giveaway that a person doesn't have a clue than a person regularly misusing big words. Write to express, not to impress.   7. Keep it simple. Unless you make your living as a novelist or poet, your main purpose in writing is probably to communicate an idea clearly and concisely so that others understand it. Before you send out a memo or letter, write what you mean to say in plain English, as if you were writing it to your best friend. Then read it as if you are the recipient of that memo or letter -- did you leave something out that is necessary to understanding your point? Is there a sentence that doesn't make sense? Reduce your sentences to their simplest possible form, and then add whatever details are necessary to make your meaning clear. This is not a license to be rude -- etiquette, common courtesy, and protocol are necessary. But writing your idea for another person to understand doesn't require unnecessary complexity or ten dollar words.   8. Use the active voice, not the passive voice. "John hit Paul" (active) is a stronger sentence than "Paul was hit by John." Of course, it depends on whom you want to emphasize, the "hitter" or the "hittee." Sometimes you may want to be intentionally vague: "Mistakes were made" (but you don't want to state by whom, or maybe you don't know).  The passive voice is perfectly grammatical; just determine what your intention is and use the active voice whenever possible.   9. Use strong verbs, and its corollary, write in complete sentences. You can make your writing clear by focusing on the action in the sentence. One strong verb carries more punch than a long string of adverbs.   10. Make sure your pronoun references are clear. Will your reader be able to figure out which "she" you mean, Linda or Connie? What is "it" -- a plan, an idea, a dog? The antecedent of the pronoun, the word that comes before to which the pronoun refers, needs to be obvious to avoid misunderstanding.   11. Be careful with punctuation.  It has been said that punctuation marks are like traffic signals, indicating when you should stop or pause in your reading. Maybe. But more punctuation doesn't necessarily make your writing any clearer. Here's where your grammar book can come in handy. Remember that  punctuation marks themselves don't carry any meaning. If your words don't already describe some strong feeling, an exclamation point isn't going to help. Overusing exclamation points is unprofessional.   12. Forgive yourself and others. You are going to continue to make mistakes, and so will even the best writers around you. Publishing houses have copy editors for authors who make millions of dollars writing books, because everyone who writes occasionally makes mistakes.  It's just a matter of degree: are your mistakes constant or occasional? So if you write something that you or someone else notices is ungrammatical or misspelled or incomplete, correct it, get over it, but don't give up on yourself.   You want your first impression to be a good one, whether it be how you look or how you write. Learning to improve your everyday writing is a long term proposition and one that requires work, but if it's what you really want, it's worth the time and the effort.         These articles may be copied for distribution in newsletters or other websites with the following attribution and link: A. R. Allen is a college writing instructor and the author of the historical legal thriller A Serpent Cherished, based on the true story of an 1891 Memphis murder. Visit her website - www.arallen.com or e-mail her at ann@arallen.com.