Creation of New Markets by Diversity

From the beginning of this world we have seen or to put it more correctly heard of God creation of this world. This demonstrates the immense power of imagination possessed by God. His imagination is unequal to anything we can think of and he has managed and maintained everything up to this day. We are all given a small amount of this God given creative power. Some of us just happened to never see pass our limitations and allow our imagination power to grow freely. Persons that have good imagination or creative ideas are needed in today†s business world of fast changing demands and supply. Business calls for managers and employees with quick minds that know how to solves problems quickly and their imagination are not limited. Being creative provides numerous benefits for companies and that the management level it should be replicated down to the levels of employees level. What precisely is creativity, one might ask? Basically it is that processes of generating new ideas. It does not matter what that idea might be once it is a bit different from what was their already it†s a creative idea. Sometimes creativity is confused with innovation, which is about planning and implementing ideas. By being creative with in companies and businesses the amount of benefits increases. Not being creative set back companies to the classic school of management, which does not produce much growth for cutting edge businesses that wish to excel. Creation of new markets by diversity is a benefit that creativity brings about. As it can be seen in 3M case on page 35 of the Management organization textbook. This small mining company 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) was nearly bankrupt but due to the quick reaction by management things were quickly turned around from heading down hill. Seeing that thing were failing in the mining venture they made a key decision to turn from that and focus on the mine†s output- abrasive grit. This carried them off into focusing on sandpaper and grinding wheels. These areas were also somewhat difficult. Over time the company continued to experiment with a Varity of products ideas. Many of there ideas came from its employees and customers. In this we can see that they implemented more recent schools of management theories such as behavioral, system, and contingency. Management listened to its employees and customers. Which does not happen in the classical school. New ideas helped this saved this company but most importantly of all was that willingness to accept and implement these ideas by management. With creativity skills business are able to use or see new ways of satisfying their customers needs. Managers should know that the survival and profitability of their organization are directly linked to meeting or exceeding customers needs and expectations. They satisfy customers by guaranteeing that all individual efforts and their results posses guilty. This can be demonstrated in the automotive industry. From the early ages of this automotive industry it can be seen that different ideas in creative design have lead to some of the most successful automotive companies. Toyota by using new fuel-efficient technology produces cares that run longer distances with the same amount of fuel. This attracts customers because they can use the some amount of fuel and increase mileage of their travel. Hereby we see that the ultimate goal is achieved increased revenue by the creative power of new idea and innovation in technology. Increased revenue is usually the goal of many business companies and by implementing new ideas and new and more efficient way of carrying on business organizations can move forward. In the 21st century without managers and employees who do not think that they are creative need to really â€Å"check if they still want to have jobs†. As given in the hand out there are basically 3 saying which limit persons thinking they are 1. I†m not creative. 2. I don†t know how to be creative. 3. It†s not ok to e creative around there. We need to overcome these limits and release our minds from these mental blocks. The creative powers are instilled in each of us as children but because of lack of use or prohibition of use. Some of use grow up thinking so logical (lift side brain thinking) that we need to practice to be creative. The (right side brain thinking) the creative side need to be use along side the left side to create the most fantastic results. It is the managers position to instill and encourage creativity at all levels of management. First line or operating management level will have to be more creative than that top and middle management. This is because they are the supervisor team leaders. Who over see the work of non-management people. Organizations or businesses can do a wide Varity of thing to increase creativity. The simple structured techniques like brain storming and mind mapping are good places to start. Some other methods used to access creative potentials are storytelling, dance, mask work, visualization, poetry, painting, sculpting and metaphor. It is also important to note that some methods will work will with certain organizations and others will not. Creativity as seen is an essential core requirement to the survival in the business world. More and more person and organizations are realizing this and taping into this natural skill and reaping the benefits. Therefore as student†s teachers, workers and managers we should all encourage and promote these creative powers.

the knowledge of how to create an effective treatment package using all aspects of the Spa environment Essays

the knowledge of how to create an effective treatment package using all aspects of the Spa environment Essays the knowledge of how to create an effective treatment package using all aspects of the Spa environment Essay the knowledge of how to create an effective treatment package using all aspects of the Spa environment Essay Spa the Millennium buzzword for health, beauty and relaxation; it is hip in holiday speak and a mantra for the growing band of worshippers at the altar of self- preservation. Yet despite its current popularity in the lives of trendsetters, jet setters and health fanatics everywhere, the spa is not a new stop in the road to wellbeing. It is a concept as old as the hills it springs from, rewritten for the contemporary scene. (Benge 1999 p. 9) A destination Spa, providing guests with accommodation, dedicated in several days of pure pampering with a whole range of spa therapies, spa cuisine and fitness for the sole purpose of a healthier lifestyle (Spa Stay 2005 p. 1). Spas in Thailand are very popular in the 21st century with overseas clients coming to take time out from their hectic day to day lives. Between June 2001 and June 2002, 230 spa operators attracted a total of 3. 3 million customers, of which 2. 5 million or 79 percent were overseas clients (Japan Times 2006 p. 3). This illustrates that Thailand is a good environment to open a high quality destination spa for a range of clientele including honeymoons and holidays. Health tourism, meaning to travel to increase general health problems for example stress, has become very popular around the world, especially in Thailand due to the culture, food, lifestyle and change in nature (Vajirakachorn 2004 p. 1). 1997-1999 the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) launched a new scheme to focus on foreign tourists, by promoting traditional health care including massage, herbs and authentic Thai food (Vajirakachorn 2004). This is why Thailand would be a good place to set up a traditional, authentic destination spa to attract clients with lifestyle problems, who want to be educated as well as pampered in the warm climate and exquisite surroundings. Clientele retreating to Thailand for a holiday or break from day to day life, will want to stay in a spa which has captured the traditional Thai culture, if not they would have spent less money and stayed within a destination spa within the UK. Therefore it is important to make sure that research has been carried out in all aspects of the spa, including which core therapies will be provided. Water is one of the most important core therapies in any spa around the world; Thailand has many natural hot springs for example Bor Khlueng, which have been said to relieve muscle aches and pains (Thailand. com 2008). As a result these springs should be taken advantage of for the use of relaxation and their therapeutic benefits along with other core therapies with in the spa industry (see Appendix 1). Such therapies that could be used within the water therapy are Watsu, Kneipp Baths, Hydrotherapy, Flotation Tank, Al Chi and Balneotherapy. One of the most common core therapies within any spa around the world is heat, this includes: Caldarium, Hamman Rasul Baths, and Shiro Dhara. Heat treatments will help to relax and calm the body and prepare the client for further touch treatments. Such touch therapies includes traditional Thai massage, along with Lanna Massage and Royal Thai massage (see appendix 2). Most Thai Spas will also include Swedish massage, Reflexology and Aromatherapy. A destination spa should also include the core therapies Relaxation and Exercise, as part of a destination spa the client has come purely for the spa experience and nothing else, so it is important to think about what the client will be doing when they are not in the spa. For example yoga, nutrition classes and relaxing gardens to walk through; this will help the client to relax as well as having an educational purpose. Within a warm climate such as Thailand it can become very hot so another type of core therapy which would be important in this destination is cold therapy, such treatments as ice fountains can help to cool down the skin and regulate normal body temperature (ISPA 1999). People need to understand that whatever is applied to the human body seeps through skin pores and into the bloodstream. According to Aubrey Hampton, founder of Aubrey Organics and author of The Take-Charge Beauty Book, people absorb 60 percent of whatever formulations they put on their skin. Montgomery (2004 p. 31) In todays society people are becoming more aware of the importance of using natural products. Therefore it is important when opening a new spa anywhere around the world to keep up with the new tends to become successful. For example Elemis has proven that the combination of natural active ingredients with cutting-edge technology has produced a high quality, yet natural product that actually works (Elemis 2008). This does not just include products used with in the destination spa for treatments; the use of many natural products can be used from source, in this case Thailand, for example cuisine and even the stone or wood which the spa could be made from. By doing so the spa will have an advantage compared too many others in Thailand. Clients would much rather come to a spa which is known for being natural and organic, more than a spa which uses chemicals and preservatives in their products and food. To maintain a professional spa concept it is essential to sustain an efficient team of staff to run the business. Without these people the spa would not be able to run successfully and would be worthless. To run a successful destination spa it is important to have employees of different positions within the spa which will work with total quality management skills. This means that each employee within the spa understands their position in the service and sticks to what they need to do. A spa manager will drive and lead the main operational aspects of the Spa, setting goals and targets for the rest of the team; they will have a good understanding of marketing and financial skills as well as being able communicate with other staff including other aspects of the spa, for example the cuisine and fitness team (ESPA 2008). The next position down from the manager is the director; this person will help the manager to run the spa and should have good customer skills as well as being driven to motivate the therapists. It is important to understand the various job roles within the destination spa due to the shear size, a head therapist should have experience working as a therapist within a spa or salon in the past, their job role will be to organise the therapists with treatments and sort out any minor problems within the day. One of the most important groups of people working in the spa is the therapist, without these the spa would not exist. They must be a team player and have the suitable qualifications for the job. A good knowledge of products must be attained for retail and an understanding of the core therapies they will be working with (ESPA 2008). All members of staff working within a destination spa should follow the code of ethics. Honesty, all customers that enter the spa must be told the truth about any treatments and not be lead into false expectation. The therapist must understand that the client may not feel comfortable with treatment so should show respect to build the clients confidence. People will pay a lot of money to visit a destination spa in Thailand so it is highly important that clients are never left waiting at any time and appearance must be kept to a high quality. Therapists will have to work long hours and are expected to work late nights and weekends so must sustain physical and mental stamina to keep up the quality of the treatments. As a spa manager duties must be made clear if the spa is quiet, for example cleaning and promoting the spa. To keep the spa professional conversation should be restricted and only about the client, as they have paid for your time. Rapport is very important, if the therapist feels uncomfortable about treating a client they do not have to do so; however this should be done tactfully and professionally (Turner et al. 2004 pp. -5). In conclusion, through thorough research, a destination spa within Thailand would be a profitable, successful business to manage with the correct knowledge and understanding of the culture and what is expected. To manage such a thriving industry it is important to make sure all aspects of the concept have been taken into consideration such as the core therapies along with the staff and training needed to be a success. It is essential to study the type clientele which would visit the spa and their needs and expectations of the whole experience, including fitness, nutrition and relaxation.

How to Write a Book in 2019 A Proven Guide From a Best Seller

How to Write a Book in 2019 A Proven Guide From a Best Seller How to Write a Book: Everything You Need to Know in 20 Steps So you want to write a book. Becoming an author can change your life- not to mention give you the ability to impact thousands, even millions, of people. However, writing a book is no cakewalk. As a 21-time New York Times bestselling author, I can tell you: It’s far easier to quit than to finish. When you run out of ideas, when your own message bores you, or when you become overwhelmed by the sheer scope of the task, you’re going to be tempted to give up. But what if you knew exactly: Where to start What each step entails How to overcome fear, procrastination, and writer’s block And how to keep from feeling overwhelmed? You can do this- and more quickly than you might think, because these days you have access to more writing tools than ever. The key is to follow a proven, straightforward, step-by-step plan. My goal here is to offer you that plan. I’ve used the techniques I outline below to write more than 190 books (including the Left Behind series) over the past 40 years. Yes, I realize averaging over four books per year is more than you may have thought humanly possible. But trust me- with a reliable blueprint, you can get unstuck and finish your book. This is my personal approach to how to write a book. I’m confident you’ll find something here that can change the game for you. So, let’s jump in. How to Write a Book From Start to Finish in 20 Steps Establish your writing space. Assemble your writing tools. Break the project into small pieces. Settle on your BIG idea. Construct your outline. Set a firm writing schedule. Establish a sacred deadline. Embrace procrastination (really!). Eliminate distractions. Conduct your research. Start calling yourself a writer. Think reader-first. Find your writing voice. Write a compelling opener. Fill your story with conflict and tension. Turn off your internal editor while writing the first draft. Persevere through The Marathon of the Middle. Write a resounding ending. Become a ferocious self-editor. Find a mentor. Want to download this 20-step guide so you can read it whenever you wish? Click here. Part One: Before You Begin You’ll never regret- in fact, you’ll thank yourself later- for investing the time necessary to prepare for such a monumental task. You wouldn’t set out to cut down a huge grove of trees with just an axe. You’d need a chain saw, perhaps more than one. Something to keep them sharp. Enough fuel to keep them running. You get the picture. Don’t shortcut this foundational part of the process. 1. Establish your writing space. To write your book, you don’t need a sanctuary. In fact, I started my career on my couch facing a typewriter perched on a plank of wood suspended by two kitchen chairs. What were you saying about your setup again?We do what we have to do. And those early days on that sagging couch were among the most productive of my career. Naturally, the nicer and more comfortable and private you can make your writing lair (I call mine my cave), the better. (If you dedicate a room solely to your writing, you can even write off a portion of your home mortgage, taxes, and insurance proportionate to that space.) Real writers can write anywhere. Some write in restaurants and coffee shops. My first fulltime job was at a newspaper where 40 of us clacked away on manual typewriters in one big room- no cubicles, no partitions, conversations hollered over the din, most of my colleagues smoking, teletype machines clattering. Cut your writing teeth in an environment like that, and anywhere else seems glorious. 2. Assemble your writing tools. In the newspaper business there was no time to handwrite our stuff and then type it for the layout guys. So I have always written at a keyboard. Most authors do, though some handwrite their first drafts and then keyboard them onto a computer or pay someone to do that. No publisher I know would even consider a typewritten manuscript, let alone one submitted in handwriting. The publishing industry runs on Microsoft Word, so you’ll need to submit Word document files. Whether you prefer a Mac or a PC, both will produce the kinds of files you need. And if you’re looking for a musclebound electronic organizing system, you can’t do better than Scrivener. It works well on both PCs and Macs, and it nicely interacts with Word files. Just remember, Scrivener has a steep learning curve, so familiarize yourself with it before you start writing. Scrivener users know that taking the time to learn the basics is well worth it. So, what else do you need? If you are one who handwrites your first drafts, don’t scrimp on paper, pencils, or erasers. Don’t shortchange yourself on a computer either. Even if someone else is keyboarding for you, you’ll need a computer for research and for communicating with potential agents, editors, publishers. Get the best computer you can afford, the latest, the one with the most capacity and speed. Try to imagine everything you’re going to need in addition to your desk or table, so you can equip yourself in advance and don’t have to keep interrupting your work to find things like: Staplers Paper clips Rulers Pencil holders Pencil sharpeners Note pads Printing paper Paperweight Tape dispensers Cork or bulletin boards Clocks Bookends Reference works Space heaters Fans Lamps Beverage mugs Napkins Tissues You name it Last, but most crucial, get the best, most ergonomic chair you can afford. If I were to start my career again with that typewriter on a plank, I would not sit on that couch. I’d grab another straight-backed kitchen chair or something similar and be proactive about my posture and maintaining a healthy spine. There’s nothing worse than trying to be creative and immerse yourself in writing while you’re in agony. The chair I work in today cost more than my first car! If you’ve never used some of the items I listed above and can’t imagine needing them, fine. But make a list of everything you know you’ll need so when the actual writing begins, you’re already equipped. As you grow as a writer and actually start making money at it, you can keep upgrading your writing space. Where I work now is light years from where I started. But the point is, I didn’t wait to start writing until I could have a great spot in which to do it. Part Two: How to Start Writing a Book 3. Break the project into small pieces. Writing a book feels like a colossal project, because it is! But your manuscript will be made up of many small parts. An old adage says that the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Try to get your mind off your book as a 400-or-so-page monstrosity. It can’t be written all at once any more than that proverbial elephant could be eaten in a single sitting. See your book for what it is: a manuscript made up of sentences, paragraphs, pages. Those pages will begin to add up, and though after a week you may have barely accumulated double digits, a few months down the road you’ll be into your second hundred pages. So keep it simple. Start by distilling your big book idea from a page or so to a single sentence- your premise. The more specific that one-sentence premise, the more it will keep you focused while you’re writing. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Before you can turn your big idea into one sentence, which can then be expanded to an outline, you have to settle on exactly what that big idea is. 4. Settle on your BIG idea. To be book-worthy, your idea has to be killer. You need to write something about which you’re passionate, something that gets you up in the morning, draws you to the keyboard, and keeps you there. It should excite not only you, but also anyone you tell about it. I can’t overstate the importance of this. If you’ve tried and failed to finish your book before- maybe more than once- it could be that the basic premise was flawed. Maybe it was worth a blog post or an article but couldn’t carry an entire book. Think The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, or How to Win Friends and Influence People. The market is crowded, the competition fierce. There’s no more room for run-of-the-mill ideas. Your premise alone should make readers salivate. Go for the big concept book. How do you know you’ve got a winner? Does it have legs? In other words, does it stay in your mind, growing and developing every time you think of it? Run it past loved ones and others you trust. Does it raise eyebrows? Elicit Wows? Or does it result in awkward silences? The right concept simply works, and you’ll know it when you land on it. Most importantly, your idea must capture you in such a way that you’re compelled to write it. Otherwise you’ll lose interest halfway through and never finish. 5. Construct your outline. Want to download this 20-step guide so you can read it whenever you wish? Click here. Starting your writing without a clear vision of where you’re going will usually end in disaster. Even if you’re writing fiction and consider yourself a Pantser* as opposed to an Outliner, you need at least a basic structure. [*Those of us who write by the seat of our pants and, as Stephen King advises, put interesting characters in difficult situations and write to find out what happens] You don’t have to call it an outline if that offends your sensibilities. But fashion some sort of a directional document that provides structure and also serves as a safety net. If you get out on that Pantser highwire and lose your balance, you’ll thank me for advising you to have this in place. Now if you’re writing a nonfiction book, there’s no substitute for an outline. Potential agents or publishers require this in your proposal. They want to know where you’re going, and they want to know that you know. What do you want your reader to learn from your book, and how will you ensure they learn it? Fiction or nonfiction, if you commonly lose interest in your book somewhere in what I call the Marathon of the Middle, you likely didn’t start with enough exciting ideas. That’s why and outline (or a basic framework) is essential. Don’t even start writing until you’re confident your structure will hold up through the end. You may recognize this novel structure illustration. Did you know it holds up- with only slight adaptations- for nonfiction books too? It’s self-explanatory for novelists; they list their plot twists and developments and arrange them in an order that best serves to increase tension. What separates great nonfiction from mediocre? The same structure! Arrange your points and evidence in the same way so you’re setting your reader up for a huge payoff, and then make sure you deliver. If your nonfiction book is a memoir, an autobiography, or a biography, structure it like a novel and you can’t go wrong. But even if it’s a straightforward how-to book, stay as close to this structure as possible, and you’ll see your manuscript come alive. Make promises early, triggering your reader to anticipate fresh ideas, secrets, inside information, something major that will make him thrilled with the finished product. While you may not have as much action or dialogueor character development as your novelist counterpart, your crises and tension can come from showing where people have failed before and how you’re going to ensure your reader will succeed. You can even make the how-to project look impossible until you pay off that setup with your unique solution. Keep your outline to a single page for now. But make sure every major point is represented, so you’ll always know where you’re going. And don’t worry if you’ve forgotten the basics of classic outlining or have never felt comfortable with the concept. Your outline must serve you. If that means Roman numerals and capital and lowercase letters and then Arabic numerals, you can certainly fashion it that way. But if you just want a list of sentences that synopsize your idea, that’s fine too. Simply start with your working title, then your premise, then- for fiction, list all the major scenes that fit into the rough structure above. For nonfiction, try to come up with chapter titles and a sentence or two of what each chapter will cover. Once you have your one-page outline, remember it is a fluid document meant to serve you and your book. Expand it, change it, play with it as you see fit- even during the writing process. 6.Set a firm writing schedule. Ideally, you want to schedule at least six hours per week to write. That may consist of three sessions of two hours each, two sessions of three hours, or six one-hour sessions- whatever works for you. I recommend a regular pattern (same times, same days) that can most easily become a habit. But if that’s impossible, just make sure you carve out at least six hours so you can see real progress. Having trouble finding the time to write a book? News flash- you won’t find the time. You have to make it. I used the phrase carve out above for a reason. That’s what it takes. Something in your calendar will likely have to be sacrificed in the interest of writing time. Make sure it’s not your family- they should always be your top priority. Never sacrifice your family on the altar of your writing career. But beyond that, the truth is that we all find time for what we really want to do. Many writers insist they have no time to write, but they always seem to catch the latest Netflix original series, or go to the next big Hollywood feature. They enjoy concerts, parties, ball games, whatever. How important is it to you to finally write your book? What will you cut from your calendar each week to ensure you give it the time it deserves? A favorite TV show? An hour of sleep per night? (Be careful with this one; rest is crucial to a writer.) A movie? A concert? A party? Successful writers make time to write. When writing becomes a habit, you’ll be on your way. 7. Establish a sacred deadline. Without deadlines, I rarely get anything done. I need that motivation. Admittedly, my deadlines are now established in my contracts from publishers. If you’re writing your first book, you probably don’t have a contract yet. To ensure you finish your book, set your own deadline- then consider it sacred. Tell your spouse or loved one or trusted friend. Ask that they hold you accountable. Now determine- and enter in your calendar- the number of pages you need to produce per writing session to meet your deadline. If it proves unrealistic, change the deadline now. If you have no idea how many pages or words you typically produce per session, you may have to experiment before you finalize those figures. Say you want to finish a 400-page manuscript by this time next year. Divide 400 by 50 weeks (accounting for two off-weeks), and you get eight pages per week. Divide that by your typical number of writing sessions per week and you’ll know how many pages you should finish per session. Now is the time to adjust these numbers,while setting your deadline and determining your pages per session. Maybe you’d rather schedule four off weeks over the next year. Or you know your book will be unusually long. Change the numbers to make it realistic and doable, and then lock it in. Remember, your deadline is sacred. 8. Embrace procrastination (really!). You read that right. Don’t fight it; embrace it. You wouldn’t guess it from my 190+ published books, but I’m the king of procrastinators. Surprised? Don’t be. So many authors are procrastinators that I’ve come to wonder if it’s a prerequisite. The secret is to accept it and, in fact, schedule it. I quit fretting and losing sleep over procrastinating when I realized it was inevitable and predictable, and also that it was productive. Sound like rationalization? Maybe it was at first. But I learned that while I’m putting off the writing, my subconscious is working on my book. It’s a part of the process. When you do start writing again, you’ll enjoy the surprises your subconscious reveals to you. So, knowing procrastination is coming, book it on your calendar. Take it into account when you’re determining your page quotas. If you have to go back in and increase the number of pages you need to produce per session, do that (I still do it all the time). But- and here’s the key- you must never let things get to where that number of pages per day exceeds your capacity. It’s one thing to ratchet up your output from two pages per session to three. But if you let it get out of hand, you’ve violated the sacredness of your deadline. How can I procrastinate and still meet more than 190 deadlines? Because I keep the deadlines sacred. 9. Eliminate distractions to stay focused. Are you as easily distracted as I am? Have you found yourself writing a sentence and then checking your email? Writing another and checking Facebook? Getting caught up in the come-ons for pictures of the 10 Sea Monsters You Wouldn’t Believe Actually Exist? Then you just have to check out that precious video from a talk show where the dad surprises the family by returning from the war. That leads to more and more of the same. Once I’m in, my writing is forgotten, and all of a sudden the day has gotten away from me. The answer to these insidious timewasters? Look into these apps that allow you to block your email, social media, browsers, game apps, whatever you wish during the hours you want to write. Some carry a modest fee, others are free. Freedom app. FocusWriter StayFocusd WriteRoom 10. Conduct your research. Yes, research is a vital part of the process, whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. Fiction means more than just making up a story. Your details and logic and technical and historical details must be right for your novel to be believable. And for nonfiction, even if you’re writing about a subject in which you’re an expert- as I’m doing here- you’ll be surprised how ensuring you get all the facts right will polish your finished product. In fact, you’d be surprised at how many times I’ve researched a fact or two while writing this blog post alone. The last thing you want is even a small mistake due to your lack of proper research. Regardless the detail, trust me, you’ll hear from readers about it. Your credibility as an author and an expert hinges on creating trust with your reader. That dissolves in a hurry if you commit an error. My favorite research resources are: World Almanacs: These alone list almost everything you need for accurate prose: facts, data, government information, and more. For my novels, I often use these to come up with ethnically accurate character names. TheMerriam-Webster Thesaurus: The online version is great, because it’s lightning fast. You couldn’t turn the pages of a hard copy as quickly as you can get where you want to onscreen. One caution: Never let it be obvious you’ve consulted a thesaurus. You’re not looking for the exotic word that jumps off the page. You’re looking for that common word that’s on the tip of your tongue. WorldAtlas.com: Here you’ll find nearly limitless information about any continent, country, region, city, town, or village. Names, monetary units, weather patterns, tourism info, and even facts you wouldn’t have thought to search for. I get ideas when I’m digging here, for both my novels and my nonfiction books. 11. Start calling yourself a writer. Want to download this 20-step guide so you can read it whenever you wish? Click here. Your inner voice may tell you, â€Å"You’re no writer and you never will be. What do you think you’re doing, trying to write a book? That may be why you’ve stalled at writing your book in the past. But if you’re working at writing, studying writing, practicing writing, that makes you a writer. Don’t wait till you reach some artificial level of accomplishment before calling yourself a writer. A cop in uniform and on duty is a cop whether he’s actively enforced the law yet or not. A carpenter is a carpenter whether he’s ever built a house. Self-identify as a writer now and you’ll silence that inner critic- who, of course, is really you. Talk back to yourself if you must. It may sound silly, but acknowledging yourself as a writer can give you the confidence to keep going and finish your book. Are you a writer? Say so. Part Three: The Writing Itself 12. Think reader-first. This is so important that that you should write it on a sticky note and affix it to your monitor so you’re reminded of it every time you write. Every decision you make about your manuscript must be run through this filter. Not you-first, not book-first, not editor-, agent-, or publisher-first. Certainly not your inner circle- or critics-first. Reader-first, last, and always. If every decision is based on the idea of reader-first, all those others benefit anyway. When fans tell me they were moved by one of my books, I think back to this adage and am grateful I maintained that posture during the writing. Does a scene bore you? If you’re thinking reader-first, it gets overhauled or deleted. Where to go, what to say, what to write next? Decide based on the reader as your priority. Whatever your gut tells you your reader would prefer, that’s your answer. Whatever will intrigue him, move him, keep him reading, those are your marching orders. So, naturally, you need to know your reader. Rough age? General interests? Loves? Hates? Attention span? When in doubt, look in the mirror. The surest way to please your reader is to please yourself. Write what you would want to read and trust there is a broad readership out there that agrees. 13. Find your writing voice. Discovering your voice is nowhere near as complicated as some make it out to be. You can find yours by answering these quick questions: What’s the coolest thing that ever happened to you? Who’s the most important person you told about it? What did you sound like when you did? That’s your writing voice. It should read the way you sound at your most engaged. That’s all there is to it. If you write fiction and the narrator of your book isn’t you, go through the three-question exercise on the narrator’s behalf- and you’ll quickly master the voice. Here’s a blog I posted that’ll walk you through the process. 14. Write a compelling opener. If you’re stuck because of the pressure of crafting the perfect opening line, you’re not alone. And neither is your angst misplaced. This is not something you should put off and come back to once you’ve started on the rest of the first chapter. Oh, it can still change if the story dictates that. But settling on a good one will really get you off and running. It’s unlikely you’ll write a more important sentence than your first one, whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. Make sure you’re thrilled with it and then watch how your confidence- and momentum- soars. Most great first lines fall into one of these categories: Surprising Fiction: â€Å"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.† - George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four Nonfiction: â€Å"By the time Eustace Conway was seven years old, he could throw a knife accurately enough to nail a chipmunk to a tree.† - Elizabeth Gilbert, The Last American Man Dramatic Statement Fiction: â€Å"They shoot the white girl first.† - Toni Morrison, Paradise Nonfiction: â€Å"I was five years old the first time I ever set foot in prison.† - Jimmy Santiago Baca, A Place to Stand Philosophical Fiction: â€Å"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.† - Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina Nonfiction: â€Å"It’s not about you.† - Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life Poetic Fiction: â€Å"When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon. - James Crumley, The Last Good Kiss Nonfiction: â€Å"The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there.’† - Truman Capote, In Cold Blood Great opening lines from other classics may give you ideas for yours. Heres a list of famous openers. 15. Fill your story with conflict and tension. Your reader craves conflict, and yes, this applies to nonfiction readers as well. In a novel, if everything is going well and everyone is agreeing, your reader will soon lose interest and find something else to do- like watch paint dry. Are two of your characters talking at the dinner table? Have one say something that makes the other storm out. Some deep-seeded rift in their relationship has surfaced. Is it just a misunderstanding that has snowballed into an injustice? Thrust people into conflict with each other. That’ll keep your reader’s attention. Certain nonfiction genres won’t lend themselves to that kind of conflict, of course, but you can still inject tension by setting up your reader for a payoff in later chapters. Check out some of the current bestselling nonfiction works to see how writers accomplish this. Somehow they keep you turning those pages, even in a simple how-to title. Tension is the secret sauce that will propel your reader through to the end. And sometimes that’s as simple as implying something to come. 16. Turn off your internal editor while writing the first draft. Many of us are perfectionists and find it hard to get a first draft written- fiction or nonfiction- without feeling compelled to make every sentence exactly the way we want it. That voice in your head that questions every word, every phrase, every sentence, and makes you worry you’re being redundant or have allowed cliches to creep in- well, that’s just your editor alter ego. He or she needs to be told to shut up. This is not easy. Deep as I am into a long career, I still have to remind myself of this every writing day. I cannot be both creator and editor at the same time. That slows me to a crawl, and my first draft of even one brief chapter could take days. Our job when writing that first draft is to get down the story or the message or the teaching- depending on your genre. It helps me to view that rough draft as a slab of meat I will carve tomorrow. I can’t both produce that hunk and trim it at the same time. A cliche, a redundancy, a hackneyed phrase comes tumbling out of my keyboard, and I start wondering whether I’ve forgotten to engage the reader’s senses or aimed for his emotions. That’s when I have to chastise myself and say, â€Å"No! Don’t worry about that now! First thing tomorrow you get to tear this thing up and put it back together again to your heart’s content!† Imagine yourself wearing different hats for different tasks, if that helps- whatever works to keep you rolling on that rough draft. You don’t need to show it to your worst enemy or even your dearest love. This chore is about creating. Don’t let anything slow you down. Some like to write their entire first draft before attacking the revision. As I say, whatever works. Doing it that way would make me worry I’ve missed something major early that will cause a complete rewrite when I discover it months later. I alternate creating and revising. The first thing I do every morning is a heavy edit and rewrite of whatever I wrote the day before. If that’s ten pages, so be it. I put my perfectionist hat on and grab my paring knife and trim that slab of meat until I’m happy with every word. Then I switch hats, tell Perfectionist Me to take the rest of the day off, and I start producing rough pages again. So, for me, when I’ve finished the entire first draft, it’s actually a second draft because I have already revised and polished it in chunks every day. THEN I go back through the entire manuscript one more time, scouring it for anything I missed or omitted, being sure to engage the reader’s senses and heart, and making sure the whole thing holds together. I do not submit anything I’m not entirely thrilled with. I know there’s still an editing process it will will go through at the publisher, but my goal is to make my manuscript the absolute best I can before they see it. Compartmentalize your writing vs. your revising and you’ll find that frees you to create much more quickly. 17. Persevere through The Marathon of the Middle. Most who fail at writing a book tell me they give up somewhere in what I like to call The Marathon of the Middle. That’s a particularly rough stretch for novelists who have a great concept, a stunning opener, and they can’t wait to get to the dramatic ending. But they bail when they realize they don’t have enough cool stuff to fill the middle. They start padding, trying to add scenes just for the sake of bulk, but they’re soon bored and know readers will be too. This actually happens to nonfiction writers too. The solution there is in the outlining stage, being sure your middle points and chapters are every bit as valuable and magnetic as the first and last. If you strategize the progression of your points or steps in a process- depending on nonfiction genre- you should be able to eliminate the strain in the middle chapters. For novelists, know that every book becomes a challenge a few chapters in. The shine wears off, keeping the pace and tension gets harder, and it’s easy to run out of steam. But that’s not the time to quit. Force yourself back to your structure, come up with a subplot if necessary, but do whatever you need to so your reader stays engaged. Fiction writer or nonfiction author, The Marathon of the Middle is when you must remember why you started this journey in the first place. It isn’t just that you want to be an author. You have something to say. You want to reach the masses with your message. Yes, it’s hard. It still is for me- every time. But don’t panic or do anything rash, like surrendering. Embrace the challenge of the middle as part of the process. If it were easy, anyone could do it. 18. Write a resounding ending. Want to download this 20-step guide so you can read it whenever you wish? Click here. This is just as important for your nonfiction book as your novel. It may not be as dramatic or emotional, but it could be- especially if you’re writing a memoir. But even a how-to or self-help book needs to close with a resounding thud, the way a Broadway theater curtain meets the floor. How do you ensure your ending doesn’t fizzle? Don’t rush it. Give readers the payoff they’ve been promised. They’ve invested in you and your book the whole way. Take the time to make it satisfying. Never settle for close enough just because you’re eager to be finished. Wait till you’re thrilled with every word, and keep revising until you are. If it’s unpredictable, it had better be fair and logical so your reader doesn’t feel cheated. You want him to be delighted with the surprise, not tricked. If you have multiple ideas for how your book should end, go for the heart rather than the head, even in nonfiction. Readers most remember what moves them. Part Four: All Writing Is Rewriting 19. Become a ferocious self-editor. Agents and editors can tell within the first two pages whether your manuscript is worthy of further consideration. That sounds unfair, and maybe it is. But it’s also reality, so we writers need to face it. How can they often decide that quickly on something you’ve devoted months, maybe years, to? Because they can almost immediately envision how much editing would be required to make those first couple of pages publishable. If they decide the investment wouldn’t make economic sense for a 300-400-page manuscript, end of story. Your best bet to keep an agent or editor reading your manuscript? You must become a ferocious self-editor. That means: Omit needless words Choose the simple word over one that requires a dictionary Avoid subtle redundancies, like â€Å"He thought in his mind†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Where else would someone think?) Avoid hedging verbs like almost frowned, sort of jumped, etc. Generally remove the word that- use it only when absolutely necessary for clarity Give the reader credit and resist the urge to explain, as in, â€Å"She walked through the open door.† (Did we need to be told it was open?) Avoid too much stage direction (what every character is doing with every limb and digit) Avoid excessive adjectives Show, don’t tell And many more For my full list and how to use them, click here. (It’s free.) When do you know you’re finished revising? When you’ve gone from making your writing better to merely making it different. That’s not always easy to determine, but it’s what makes you an author. And Finally, the Quickest Way to Succeed 20. Find a mentor. Get help from someone who’s been where you want to be. Imagine engaging a mentor who can help you sidestep all the amateur pitfalls and shave years of painful trial-and-error off your learning curve. Just make sure it’s someone who really knows the writing and publishing world. Many masquerade as mentors and coaches but have never really succeeded themselves. Look for someone widely-published who knows how to work with agents, editors, and publishers. There are many helpful mentors online. I teach writers through this free site, as well as in my members-only Writers Guild. Want to save this definitive guide to read later?Click here or below to download a handy PDF version: Struggling with knowing how to write a book? Tell me in the comments and feel free to ask questions.

7 Patterns of Sentence Structure

7 Patterns of Sentence Structure 7 Patterns of Sentence Structure 7 Patterns of Sentence Structure By Mark Nichol Sentence structure can be categorized into seven patterns: one simple, three compound, two complex, and one compound-complex. Here are examples of each pattern with accompanying formulas, all to help you think of how to craft sentences in a greater variety of syntax: 1. Simple sentence (independent clause): â€Å"I went for a walk.† (An independent clause is set of words that includes a subject and a predicate. It can be a sentence or part of one. A dependent, or subordinate, clause is one that cannot stand on its own but provides additional information to supplement an independent clause.) 2. Compound sentence, IC+CC+IC (independent clause plus coordinating conjunction plus independent clause): â€Å"I went for a walk, and I was soothed by the gentle night air.† (Coordinating conjunctions are words that link one independent clause to another to form a compound sentence. These words can be recalled with the mnemonic FANBOYS and include for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so.) 3. Compound sentence, IC+S+IC (independent clause plus semicolon plus independent clause): â€Å"I went for a walk; I was soothed by the gentle night air.† 4. Compound sentence, IC+AC+IC (independent clause plus adverbial conjunction plus independent clause): â€Å"I went for a walk; consequently, I was soothed by the gentle night air.† (Adverbial conjunctions are adverbs that serve, when following a semicolon, to link independent clauses. They include consequently, however, moreover, nevertheless, therefore, and thus.) 5. Complex sentence, DM+C+IC (dependent marker plus clause plus independent clause): â€Å"Because I hoped to be soothed by the gentle night air, I went for a walk.† (Dependent markers are words that provide a relative context for a subordinate clause. They include after, although, as, â€Å"as if,† because, before, if, since, though, until, when, where, whether, and while.) 6. Complex sentence, RP+C (relative pronoun plus clause): â€Å"Whatever doubts I had about taking a walk dissipated when I was soothed by the gentle night air.† (Relative pronouns are pronouns that relate a subordinate clause to the noun it modifies. They include who, whom, whose, whoever, whosoever, whomever, which, what, whatever, and sometimes that.) 7. Compound-complex sentence, DC+IC+CC+IC (dependent clause plus independent clause plus coordinating conjunction plus independent clause): â€Å"As I headed out for a walk, my doubts about doing so dissipated, and I was soothed by the gentle night air.† There are, of course, many variations to these patterns; even a simple sentence, for instance, can begin with the object in the example converted to the subject of another simple sentence: â€Å"A walk was my next order of business.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Signs and Symbols You Should Know40 Synonyms for â€Å"Different†20 Classic Novels You Can Read in One Sitting

APPLYING ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES TO EDUCATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

APPLYING ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES TO EDUCATION - Essay Example This principle amounts to greater competition in the market place. To effectively compete with each other, organizations will be forced to improve the quality of the products or services that they offer in order to give better value to their customers. This will also be advantageous to the consumers because some companies tend to lower their prices to increase their market share. In a free market economy, people â€Å"vote† through their purchases of goods and services. Those getting the most â€Å"votes† are the ones that offer the best value for the people’s money. With support coming from the consumers, these firms have the dollar power to further improve on the quality of their products and services. Those firms who fail to attract enough customers/buyers are those who do not provide a good value. If they do not shape up, these organizations will eventually go by the wayside. 2. Are there other public functions that might benefit from more competition, includ ing competition from private firms? Yes, there are other public functions that might benefit from more competition, including competition from private firms. These organizations would include those in the area of health care (hospitals, day-care facilities & retirement homes), low-cost housing, transportation, telecommunications, and infrastructure.

Billys Method of Accomplishing His Goals in the Movie Money Ball Essay

Billys Method of Accomplishing His Goals in the Movie Money Ball - Essay Example This paper illustrates that organizational behavior is important in fostering and maintaining cordial organizational relationships. It helps in improving relations between management and the employees. Furthermore, it is important in helping the leader of the organization understand what motivates his or her employees to work in certain ways. Understanding the basis of motivation leads to the management getting things done easily and through delegation of duties. Also, the understanding organizational behavior is imperative in the sense that it helps in understanding organizational life. The different people and workers who encompass the important organization. It helps in understanding them and how they relate to the organization to ensure peaceful and meaningful coexistence. Billy uses a method that is unique in the accomplishment of his intended goals and the goals of his baseball team. This method recognizes that his team does not have the financial muscle and might to compete wi th the big financially well-off teams. Despite that fact, Billy uses a new method to study players who have been overlooked and unappreciated due to varying degrees of problems among others. The inability of the Billy’s Oakland Athletics team to acquire talent through their financial might forces him down through using other methods in acquiring the necessary talents. Billy uses a new method based on statistical analysis of players. The method was new and unheard of in the Baseball game which was started by the man Billy recruited from a meeting. The research and analytics based method helped the team to identify undervalued players from the competitive major league baseball talent pool.

Coordination in Supply Chain Management Term Paper

Coordination in Supply Chain Management - Term Paper Example The resource sharing in the operational level can be regarded as the communication process carried out during the collection of operational resources, point-of-sale data etc. The planning level coordination can be the one carried out among the managers while developing plans for production and inventory development. Resource sharing at the strategic level can be during the formulation of the strategic plans, resource investment in the sector of Research and Development and forming strategic alliances.Decision Style:  There can be two major styles for the decision making. The two styles can be centralized and decentralized styles.   For a centralized style of decision making, a single firm has the control over the decisions to be taken during the Supply Chain Coordination Process while in a decentralized style; all the firms have to take their decisions independently and to enforce them.Level of Control:  When it comes to the level of control, there can be a High level of contro l and a Low level of control.  The high level of control is one where there is a strict and accurate level of control and monitoring; the firms outline and develop strict routine and rules to be followed along with control systems which can observe other firms' performance. Risk/Reward Sharing:  The risk/reward sharing determines the distinctiveness of the motivation and incentive plans. There can be two types of the risk/reward sharing methods.