Save to Browser Favorites
Ask
backflip
blinklist
BlogBookmark
Bloglines
BlogMarks
Blogsvine
BUMPzee!
CiteULike
co.mments
Connotea
del.icio.us
DotNetKicks
Digg
diigo
dropjack.com
dzone
Facebook
Fark
Faves
Feed Me Links
Friendsite
folkd.com
Furl
Google
Hugg
Jeqq
Kaboodle
kirtsy
linkaGoGo
LinksMarker
Ma.gnolia
Mister Wong
Mixx
MySpace
MyWeb
Netvouz
Newsvine
PlugIM
popcurrent
Propeller
Reddit
Rojo
Segnalo
Shoutwire
Simpy
Slashdot
Sphere
Sphinn
Spurl.net
Squidoo
StumbleUpon
Technorati
ThisNext
Webride
Windows Live
Yahoo!
Email This to a Friend
If you like this then please subscribe to the Long before your retiring, you dreamed of becoming a writer. You’re not alone. The Gallup Organization found that 81% of mature adults dream of writing a book.
You’ve never attempted more than the basic writing required by your career—letters, perhaps a report, even a grant application. Now at last, as a retiree you have the time to fulfill your long-cherished dream, to begin retirement writing. But the task seems a bit overwhelming. You agonize over how best to start.
Sharing the highlights of your life can be most rewarding for either a novice or an advanced writer. It’s a gift your loved ones and close friends will always welcome. Crafting a memoir is an ideal way to venture into the joys of retirement writing.
Many wanna-be authors find that creating a memoir is a relatively easy way to begin their writing experience. It doesn’t demand the formality of a novel or play script. The subject matter, if handled with complete objectivity, can replace the need to develop a plot. And it is a comfortable way to reveal your opinions and deep-seated emotions.
Integrity and Objectivity
After the unpleasant disclosures in recent years of fabrications and distortions in some best-selling memoirs, it is essential that every effort be made to remain objective and completely honest as you recount family histories, describe other characters in your story and write about your own alleged accomplishments.
Over time, the human mind tends to forget less pleasant details. You can distort the description of a person or a relationship when seen strictly from your own private point of view. Therefore, it is imperative that you as the memoirist reach out to anyone who has first hand knowledge of the period, event or persons you are writing about.
You must also remember that the process of selecting people and events for your memoir is highly subjective. There is no real way to overcome this bias other than to make a concerted effort to strive for objectivity. Expert memoirist Lawrence P Gouldrup, PhD, writes, “As we experience life, we mentally distinguish between those events and personalities that are insignificant trivia and those that have been important and memorable to us….we constantly bring our own private experiences into focus by seeing events and people in certain patterns.”
That doesn’t mean, however, that while striving for balance and accuracy, the memoirist shouldn’t add greater depth and meaning to an incident by personalizing its impact. Whether a situation elicited joy, sorrow, anger or raised the writer’s consciousness humanizes the story and invites the reader to empathize with him/her. Whenever it is possible to detail the reactions of others with accuracy, you will strengthen your story still further
Getting Started
While remembering and sorting out the relevant experiences of your life may seem like an insurmountable task at first, I have counseled a number of successful memoirists to spend one hour or so every day for a week sitting alone and quietly and reaching back for significant memories.
Clear your mind completely of distractions, as you would if you were meditating. Reach back for special family events, dinners, holidays, vacations, etc. The recollection of a unique piece of clothing—a dress or suit you absolutely loved when six-years-old—can trigger wonderful memories of the special event at which you wore it. A favorite family food tradition, even the color of your house, perhaps the first day of school. There are so many diverse memories that combine to help you develop the overall theme and story line of your book.
Shaping Your Story
The next step before finalizing your outline and sitting down to write is determining your audience. Ask yourself these important questions. Will this be a book available only to close friends and family members? Or do you plan to market the book widely? Are you targeting a specific age group that is familiar with the time period in which you set your tale? Is your planned audience composed of members of one sex?
A second major consideration is the viewpoint from which you are writing. Are you planning a family history in which you are just one of many cogs in the wheel? Or are you framing the story around your own experiences and making yourself the focal point of the piece? The viewpoint from which you write must be determined before a single word goes into the computer.
All of these concerns must be factored into the way you plan your story well before you face your empty computer screen. If you have done your preparation properly and answered these basic questions, you will find that the actual writing of the memoir becomes the proverbial “piece of cake.
Researching and preparing the memoir can be done rather easily because the subject matter is so familiar to you. You are writing about YOU, and once you master doing that with balance and objectivity and even a degree of detachment, you will find this exercise a fabulous launch pad for future success as an author. It is an ideal stepping stone to crafting either fiction or nonfiction in the future.
Do you need a support system to help jump start your writing career? See what’s available free on http://www.retirement-writing.com. the web site of writing coach and author Charles Jacobs. His latest book “The Writer Within You” is a Best Books of 2007 honoree, a 5-star choice on Amazon, B&N and Borders and a selection of the Writer’s Digest Book Club. Find detailed info and order it at a substantial discount by clicking on http://www.retireandwrite.com
Find free articles and eBooks on http://www.retirement-writing.com. the web site of writing coach and author Charles Jacobs. His latest book
Registering a domain name is a quick process that often seems complex. It is far easier than most general web surfers suspect. You can quickly learn how to register a domain name with a little forethought.
You need little know-how to register a domain name. Your first task is to find a company that will let you perform a search in what is known as a “WHOIS” database. These databases contains all registered domain names worldwide. Domains that are currently in use will offer the name of the individual or company with ownership. The WHOIS will also tell you if your desired domain is free.
Domain names are an evolving aspect of the web. The development of new extensions has created many wonderful Internet opportunities. Extensions are the letters at the end of a URL, or web address. The most popular extensions are “.com,” “.net” and “.org.” Webmasters can find additional extensions, such as:
* .biz
* .info
* .tv
* .us
New extensions allow webmasters to use the precise domain names they want. Potential webmasters are often disappointed to see the name and extension they want is already taken. It may belong to a rival company or may have fallen victim to a common practice of reselling. Domain name reselling is where a company purchases a large number of generic domain names in order to raise the resell price and turn a profit. It is not recommended to buy a domain name that is being virtually scalped. Webmasters can find many other name/extension combinations available at the standard price.
The added bonus of these new extensions are many. It is common to find multiple domain registrar companies offering discounted prices on domain names with these new extensions. This will lower the costs of starting a website and give you a unique slant for your domain.
The best domain registrar companies will be established. They should have a good rating at independent websites. The domain registrar should offer constant customer support and a variety of payment options. It is a trend amid many registrars to offer “credit card only” services. It is best to avoid these practices. Your registrar and your hosting company should both be eager for your business. This means providing good service and accommodating your payment needs. The credit only sites tend to be lax in their customer service and will not readily work with clients who must change payment information. They have a company infrastructure that automates as many functions as possible.
You will move on to the registration process when you have selected your company. Resources are available across the Internet to help if you have specific concerns. Domain name registrars are the record keepers of the Internet. Your registrar sells you your domain name and sends out information that your respective domain has been purchased. You will need to pay for your domain annually. Many companies offer services that allow you to purchase a number of years into the future.
The checkout process for buying a domain name is much like buying anything else online. You enter your standard information and payment information. Your receipt is sent via e-mail.
You will need to wait for a period of 48 hours before you can begin publishing your domain. This is to allow adequate time for a process known as propagation. When your domain name propagates, it travels to WHOIS databases worldwide and submits the data that the domain name is in use. It really is a simple process. Even if you don’t know how to register a domain name, you should be confident. It’s an easy process.
More information on Registering domain names is available at http://www.domainnamehostingblog.com/