PRWeb (http://www.prweb.com), the leading online news distribution service, today announced that it has added the ShareThis Widget to enable its customers to share their news with popular social networks. The new functionality is the latest addition to the broad array of social media functionality currently available within PRWeb and will help customers leverage the latest social messaging technology to reach to an even broader audience.
"Already recognized by Technorati as the newswire covered the most in the blogosphere, ShareThis will further enhance the online visibility of PRWeb releases as news is shared in more places than ever before," said Jiyan Wei, director of product management for PRWeb. "Through ShareThis, our customers will be able to leverage the growing popularity and importance of social media platforms to drive traffic, stimulate viral activity and reach an even larger audience."
ShareThis is the sharing network that makes it simple and easy to share any online content. Through ShareThis, individuals are able to share content with a wide variety of social networks and email options, including Facebook, Twitter, Digg, MySpace and many others. To use the ShareThis functionality on PRWeb, customers and readers can simply click on the ShareThis button included every online news release and select the social media networks where they wish to share their news.
PRWeb is the pioneer in direct-to-consumer distribution, search engine optimized news releases and multimedia news. News releases are distributed through search engines, RSS feeds and directly to tens of thousands of journalists and editors through e-mail. Through partnerships with prominent news outlets like the Associated Press, Yahoo! News and AOL, PRWeb news releases are available to an online audience of more than 70 million unique visitors in the United States alone.
Monday, June 29, 2009
"Help An Entrepreneur Out" Turns Unemployed into Self-Employed
With the downturn in the economy many people, especially Gen Y, have experienced the tumultuous job markets first hand. Many of these individuals have thus pursued their own dreams and started businesses, even though they don't have all the knowledge to succeed. Help An Entrepreneur Out is here to get these upstart business owners answers to their everyday business questions allowing their businesses to reach full potential.
College graduates are entering the worst job markets we've seen in decades. According to the United States Department of Labor 5.7 Million Jobs have been lost since December 2007 with another 2.5million loses projected in 2009 alone. While these numbers are bleak many young professionals realize the opportunity to start their own business but lack the necessary knowledge.
Young entrepreneurs Jared O'Toole and Matt Wilson have taken on this challenge, turning the unemployed into the self-employed with http://HelpAnEntrepreneur.com . Help An Entrepreneur Out or HAEO aims to make the daunting, risky and sometimes down right scary idea of starting your own business easier by getting you the answers you need to succeed. Questions from "How do I form an LLC?" or "Where to look for viral marketing ideas," get answered by the subscriber base of helpful business people via email or Twitter.
Help An Entrepreneur Out (HAEO) was created after O'Toole and Wilson realized how difficult it was to succeed as young and frankly inexperienced entrepreneurs. "We had so many ideas and aspirations but how do we turn these into businesses? We didn't even know what web host to use!" said O'Toole.
Asking a question is as simple as raising your hand in class. Simply fill out the form on http://HelpAnEntrepreneur.com . Anyone from the subscriber base is encouraged to show-off their expertise and knowledge answering the questions. The only way to become a recognized expert in a field is to get out there and showcase what you know as often as possible!
"Everyone knows it's entrepreneurship that is going to lead us out of the recession. Getting entrepreneurs the help they need is the first step in the process," concludes Wilson.
College graduates are entering the worst job markets we've seen in decades. According to the United States Department of Labor 5.7 Million Jobs have been lost since December 2007 with another 2.5million loses projected in 2009 alone. While these numbers are bleak many young professionals realize the opportunity to start their own business but lack the necessary knowledge.
Young entrepreneurs Jared O'Toole and Matt Wilson have taken on this challenge, turning the unemployed into the self-employed with http://HelpAnEntrepreneur.com . Help An Entrepreneur Out or HAEO aims to make the daunting, risky and sometimes down right scary idea of starting your own business easier by getting you the answers you need to succeed. Questions from "How do I form an LLC?" or "Where to look for viral marketing ideas," get answered by the subscriber base of helpful business people via email or Twitter.
Help An Entrepreneur Out (HAEO) was created after O'Toole and Wilson realized how difficult it was to succeed as young and frankly inexperienced entrepreneurs. "We had so many ideas and aspirations but how do we turn these into businesses? We didn't even know what web host to use!" said O'Toole.
Asking a question is as simple as raising your hand in class. Simply fill out the form on http://HelpAnEntrepreneur.com . Anyone from the subscriber base is encouraged to show-off their expertise and knowledge answering the questions. The only way to become a recognized expert in a field is to get out there and showcase what you know as often as possible!
"Everyone knows it's entrepreneurship that is going to lead us out of the recession. Getting entrepreneurs the help they need is the first step in the process," concludes Wilson.
Monday, June 22, 2009
StumbleUpon Launches Su.pr - The First URL Shortener Designed to Increase Website Traffic
StumbleUpon, the best way to discover new content on the Internet, launched a new service today. Designed specifically for publishers, Su.pr is the first URL shortener designed to help content creators grow their audience, while saving time and increasing brand exposure.
Shortened URL services have increased in popularity over the past few months, yet none of them provide any real exposure benefits to the content publishers. Until Su.pr, the main reason to use a shortened URL was in order to fit a lot of information within a small character limit, i.e. Twitter's 140 character maximum. Now, with Su.pr, publishers can drive traffic to their content and post across multiple platforms with a single click, all while preserving search ranking and branding.
Su.pr is a free syndication tool for publishers that makes it possible for them to broadcast content across Facebook and Twitter, while also increasing the content's exposure to StumbleUpon's nearly 8 million users. All publishers have to do is type in their message, hit post, and the message is posted along with the shortened URL. Publishers can identify the best times to post, schedule future posts, and see real-time results on clicks, tweets, and traffic associated with posts.
"Su.pr makes it faster and easier to syndicate and measure your content, helping publishers increase their reach and efficiency," said Garrett Camp, StumbleUpon CEO. "And from every Su.pr link, users can discover other great content from that publisher."
Su.pr provides the following benefits:
More traffic -- Every Su.pr URL exposes content to StumbleUpon's nearly 8 million users and allows publishers to showcase their site's best content alongside each link.
Better results in less time -- Publishers can identify the optimal times to post (highest likely traffic) and schedule as many posts as they like, for whenever they want.
One-click posting - With Su.pr, publishers can post to StumbleUpon, Twitter and Facebook with just one click. (More platforms to be added in the future).
Real-time Analytics - Su.pr provides real-time reports on clicks and traffic, including the number of retweets for each post.
Custom short URLs - Su.pr users have the option to have their own domain-name in the short URLs (i.e. mysite.com/a2b).
Redirect friendly -- Publishers can choose to create links that redirect traffic to their own site (301 redirect), preserving their search ranking.
"Su.pr is one of a kind - in combination with StumbleUpon, it has increased traffic to my site, delivering as many as 24,000 unique visitors to a single post in less than 24 hours," said Tim Ferriss, popular blogger and New York Times bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek.
Ferriss added, "Su.pr isn't another URL shortener.It produces measurable results, sending me more visitors in less time. From intelligent real-time analytics to my most important 'retweeters', it allows me to find what really works and ignore the noise. Want to know the best time to post? Done. Post to Twitter and Facebook with one click? Check. It's one-stop shopping for those who want real ROI from social media."
Su.pr is currently in private beta. For more information on Su.pr, visit Su.pr.
Shortened URL services have increased in popularity over the past few months, yet none of them provide any real exposure benefits to the content publishers. Until Su.pr, the main reason to use a shortened URL was in order to fit a lot of information within a small character limit, i.e. Twitter's 140 character maximum. Now, with Su.pr, publishers can drive traffic to their content and post across multiple platforms with a single click, all while preserving search ranking and branding.
Su.pr is a free syndication tool for publishers that makes it possible for them to broadcast content across Facebook and Twitter, while also increasing the content's exposure to StumbleUpon's nearly 8 million users. All publishers have to do is type in their message, hit post, and the message is posted along with the shortened URL. Publishers can identify the best times to post, schedule future posts, and see real-time results on clicks, tweets, and traffic associated with posts.
"Su.pr makes it faster and easier to syndicate and measure your content, helping publishers increase their reach and efficiency," said Garrett Camp, StumbleUpon CEO. "And from every Su.pr link, users can discover other great content from that publisher."
Su.pr provides the following benefits:
More traffic -- Every Su.pr URL exposes content to StumbleUpon's nearly 8 million users and allows publishers to showcase their site's best content alongside each link.
Better results in less time -- Publishers can identify the optimal times to post (highest likely traffic) and schedule as many posts as they like, for whenever they want.
One-click posting - With Su.pr, publishers can post to StumbleUpon, Twitter and Facebook with just one click. (More platforms to be added in the future).
Real-time Analytics - Su.pr provides real-time reports on clicks and traffic, including the number of retweets for each post.
Custom short URLs - Su.pr users have the option to have their own domain-name in the short URLs (i.e. mysite.com/a2b).
Redirect friendly -- Publishers can choose to create links that redirect traffic to their own site (301 redirect), preserving their search ranking.
"Su.pr is one of a kind - in combination with StumbleUpon, it has increased traffic to my site, delivering as many as 24,000 unique visitors to a single post in less than 24 hours," said Tim Ferriss, popular blogger and New York Times bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek.
Ferriss added, "Su.pr isn't another URL shortener.It produces measurable results, sending me more visitors in less time. From intelligent real-time analytics to my most important 'retweeters', it allows me to find what really works and ignore the noise. Want to know the best time to post? Done. Post to Twitter and Facebook with one click? Check. It's one-stop shopping for those who want real ROI from social media."
Su.pr is currently in private beta. For more information on Su.pr, visit Su.pr.
New Web Site Shows You How To Make A Career Transition From Someone Who Has Done It
A new Web site is providing all free information on how to make a career transition from someone who has succeeded at the task. Mary Lee Gannon went from being a stay-at-home mother of four children living a country club life to the reality of a difficult marriage, divorce, and poverty. Her career advice at www.StartingOverNow.com contains strategies, tips sheets, links and resources regarding her personal turn-around that took her from an earning capacity of $27,000 to the executive level as president and CEO of a hospital foundation. A speaker on starting over, productivity and turn-arounds, Mary Lee lives in Pittsburgh, PA -- a city that also had to re-invent itself after the collapse of the American steel era.
"At this point in my career I feel a need to give back," said Mary Lee who presents often without a fee on productivity and personal turn-arounds to community, business and employment development organizations. "I am very blessed to have achieved the success that I have but I know that it came as no accident. I want to help others meet their dreams by using the shortcuts that I used to work smart, build networks, acquire new skills and develop transferable skills.”
Unemployment rates are higher than they have been in decades and many people are suffering because they don't know how to find work or where to begin. Whether you are an empty nester who is re-entering the workforce, an entrepreneur who is looking for a way to network, someone who has been recently laid-off, a person seeking their first job, starting a business, going through a divorce, looking for career opportunities, seeking career advice and education, or simply someone who is setting new life goals the free worksheets, articles and advice at www.StartingOverNow.com will help you get to a destination faster while also balancing other life priorities, family and relationships.
In this easy-to-read and informative format, specific critical suggestions and tactics are laid out for those who have met despair and need to create a new life, including:
Links for government jobs, wage estimates, starting over after a divorce, self improvement, resume advice, and business plans
Worksheets for creating a "Life Balance Chart and Goals"
Articles and Tip Sheets on the topics of: 10 Interview Questions for You to Ask That Scream, "I Get the Big Picture!," Are You Leading Your Life or an Actor in Your Own Drama?, Be the Standout Candidate in the New Economy, Begin With Your "Success Sketch" and Hang it Where You Will See It Everyday, Best Careers of 2009 and Free Tuition, Change - Here's How!, Does Your Resume Look Weathered?, Don't Put an Age Limit on Your Dreams, Eight Steps To Connect With Someone New - More Than Networking, Expand Your Job Search - Use Job Search Engines, Find Your Next Job Via Social Networking Sites, Four Tips for College Graduates, Freelance During Your Meanwhile Time, Goals - What They Did for Me, How to Find a Mentor - You Need One, How to Make a Career Change in a Failing Economy, How to Remember People's Names, Ideas to Start Your Own Business During Your "Meanwhile" Time, I've Made a Mistake - What Now?, It's Not Who You Know, It's Who Know You - How to Network, Know Which Glass is Yours and Take a Friend to Lunch, Millionaire Women Look Ahead, Recession Resistant Careers, Tell a Story on the Interview and Capture the Happy Ending, The Marketing, Advertising and Publicity Puzzle, Transferable Skills – Three Easy Steps to Changing Fields and many more.
Links to social networking sites where Mary Lee posts daily career tips.
Mary Lee's Blog, free e-Book "Make Your Wheel of Fortune Spin on Balance," and the ability to sign up for her free e-Newsletter "Starting Over Now.”
Some of the organizations for which Mary Lee has presented include: Dress for Success, New Choices/New Options Career Development Service, Workquest, One Vision One Life, Pennsylvania Professional Employment Network, Urban League of Pittsburgh, Fox Chapel Adult Education, Pennsylvania Employment and Training Center.
About the Author:
Mary Lee Gannon went from being a stay-at-home mother with four children under seven-years-old and a successful husband living a country club lifestyle to the reality of becoming divorced, homeless, carless and on welfare. She is a guest speaker for women's organizations, business organizations and other non-profit groups nationwide. Her Web site is www.StartingOverNow.com which features blogs, worksheets and articles. Her book, "Starting Over” will be released by New Horizon Press in November of 2009. Mary Lee lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
"At this point in my career I feel a need to give back," said Mary Lee who presents often without a fee on productivity and personal turn-arounds to community, business and employment development organizations. "I am very blessed to have achieved the success that I have but I know that it came as no accident. I want to help others meet their dreams by using the shortcuts that I used to work smart, build networks, acquire new skills and develop transferable skills.”
Unemployment rates are higher than they have been in decades and many people are suffering because they don't know how to find work or where to begin. Whether you are an empty nester who is re-entering the workforce, an entrepreneur who is looking for a way to network, someone who has been recently laid-off, a person seeking their first job, starting a business, going through a divorce, looking for career opportunities, seeking career advice and education, or simply someone who is setting new life goals the free worksheets, articles and advice at www.StartingOverNow.com will help you get to a destination faster while also balancing other life priorities, family and relationships.
In this easy-to-read and informative format, specific critical suggestions and tactics are laid out for those who have met despair and need to create a new life, including:
Links for government jobs, wage estimates, starting over after a divorce, self improvement, resume advice, and business plans
Worksheets for creating a "Life Balance Chart and Goals"
Articles and Tip Sheets on the topics of: 10 Interview Questions for You to Ask That Scream, "I Get the Big Picture!," Are You Leading Your Life or an Actor in Your Own Drama?, Be the Standout Candidate in the New Economy, Begin With Your "Success Sketch" and Hang it Where You Will See It Everyday, Best Careers of 2009 and Free Tuition, Change - Here's How!, Does Your Resume Look Weathered?, Don't Put an Age Limit on Your Dreams, Eight Steps To Connect With Someone New - More Than Networking, Expand Your Job Search - Use Job Search Engines, Find Your Next Job Via Social Networking Sites, Four Tips for College Graduates, Freelance During Your Meanwhile Time, Goals - What They Did for Me, How to Find a Mentor - You Need One, How to Make a Career Change in a Failing Economy, How to Remember People's Names, Ideas to Start Your Own Business During Your "Meanwhile" Time, I've Made a Mistake - What Now?, It's Not Who You Know, It's Who Know You - How to Network, Know Which Glass is Yours and Take a Friend to Lunch, Millionaire Women Look Ahead, Recession Resistant Careers, Tell a Story on the Interview and Capture the Happy Ending, The Marketing, Advertising and Publicity Puzzle, Transferable Skills – Three Easy Steps to Changing Fields and many more.
Links to social networking sites where Mary Lee posts daily career tips.
Mary Lee's Blog, free e-Book "Make Your Wheel of Fortune Spin on Balance," and the ability to sign up for her free e-Newsletter "Starting Over Now.”
Some of the organizations for which Mary Lee has presented include: Dress for Success, New Choices/New Options Career Development Service, Workquest, One Vision One Life, Pennsylvania Professional Employment Network, Urban League of Pittsburgh, Fox Chapel Adult Education, Pennsylvania Employment and Training Center.
About the Author:
Mary Lee Gannon went from being a stay-at-home mother with four children under seven-years-old and a successful husband living a country club lifestyle to the reality of becoming divorced, homeless, carless and on welfare. She is a guest speaker for women's organizations, business organizations and other non-profit groups nationwide. Her Web site is www.StartingOverNow.com which features blogs, worksheets and articles. Her book, "Starting Over” will be released by New Horizon Press in November of 2009. Mary Lee lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Bloggers and Guest Bloggers Connect with BloggerLinkUp.com
BloggerLinkUp.com helps bloggers get free content and backlinks in cooperation with other bloggers. It's a win-win for everyone. The bloggers get free content, a different perspective for their readers (and maybe a day off!), and the guest bloggers get exposure to new audiences, increased traffic to their blogs, and link love to enhance their search engine rankings.
But finding quality writers to create blog content is hard. And finding bloggers who will accept guest posts can be even more difficult.
The problem is solved by a new free service from BloggerLinkUp.com. BloggerLinkUp allows bloggers and writers to connect with each other so that bloggers can request guest posts, and writers can offer their services as guest bloggers.
Subscribers receive daily emails containing requests for and offers of guest posts. When they find a good match, the subscriber contacts the blogger or writer directly to arrange a guest post. There is no charge to subscribers to receive the daily emails or to submit requests and offers.
The service is not just for bloggers. Anyone who wants to get visibility on blogs can benefit by offering a guest post, responding to calls for interview subjects, or providing products to bloggers for review.
BloggerLinkUp.com founder, Cathy Stucker, says, "I started BloggerLinkUp to solve a problem I had as a blogger, both looking for guest posts for my sites and offering guest posts to others. It shouldn't be hard to give away quality content, should it?"
Now with BloggerLinkUp it is easy to connect with bloggers in your field. By using the free service, bloggers can use the time they would have spent looking for guest posters and posting opportunities writing, promoting their blogs or just relaxing.
For more information, or to subscribe, go to http://BloggerLinkUp.com/.
But finding quality writers to create blog content is hard. And finding bloggers who will accept guest posts can be even more difficult.
The problem is solved by a new free service from BloggerLinkUp.com. BloggerLinkUp allows bloggers and writers to connect with each other so that bloggers can request guest posts, and writers can offer their services as guest bloggers.
Subscribers receive daily emails containing requests for and offers of guest posts. When they find a good match, the subscriber contacts the blogger or writer directly to arrange a guest post. There is no charge to subscribers to receive the daily emails or to submit requests and offers.
The service is not just for bloggers. Anyone who wants to get visibility on blogs can benefit by offering a guest post, responding to calls for interview subjects, or providing products to bloggers for review.
BloggerLinkUp.com founder, Cathy Stucker, says, "I started BloggerLinkUp to solve a problem I had as a blogger, both looking for guest posts for my sites and offering guest posts to others. It shouldn't be hard to give away quality content, should it?"
Now with BloggerLinkUp it is easy to connect with bloggers in your field. By using the free service, bloggers can use the time they would have spent looking for guest posters and posting opportunities writing, promoting their blogs or just relaxing.
For more information, or to subscribe, go to http://BloggerLinkUp.com/.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Job Board Industry Veteran Launches New Job Search Engine
LatPro, Inc.just launched JustJobs.com, a new job search engine intended to simplify job search. JustJobs.com is a vertical job search engine that searches positions from other job boards and employers’ websites. JustJobs.com follows the launch of LatPro’s DiversityJobs.com search engine in 2006.
In development for over 3 years, the JustJobs.com family of newly launched job search engines is the outcome of lessons learned over more than a decade running its flagship Hispanic and bilingual niche job board, LatPro.com.
Company president Eric Shannon said "JustJobs.com is about creating as much value as we can for job seekers—our goal is to show clear immediate value to job seekers, job boards and employers. In my annual review of the Top 100 Job Site Niches (http://internetinc.com/top-100-job-site-niches-2009), I see that’s what ties together the job sites that are perennial leaders – they show job seekers immediate value."
JustJobs.com is a free resource for job seekers and job board partners and is designed to remain free. It launches searching more than one million jobs from over 75 partners and currently serves more than one million monthly page views over its family of job search engines.
Justjobs.com also includes a career focused social network and blog at http://network.justjobs.com where the company welcomes all careerists, career experts and job seekers.
In development for over 3 years, the JustJobs.com family of newly launched job search engines is the outcome of lessons learned over more than a decade running its flagship Hispanic and bilingual niche job board, LatPro.com.
Company president Eric Shannon said "JustJobs.com is about creating as much value as we can for job seekers—our goal is to show clear immediate value to job seekers, job boards and employers. In my annual review of the Top 100 Job Site Niches (http://internetinc.com/top-100-job-site-niches-2009), I see that’s what ties together the job sites that are perennial leaders – they show job seekers immediate value."
JustJobs.com is a free resource for job seekers and job board partners and is designed to remain free. It launches searching more than one million jobs from over 75 partners and currently serves more than one million monthly page views over its family of job search engines.
Justjobs.com also includes a career focused social network and blog at http://network.justjobs.com where the company welcomes all careerists, career experts and job seekers.
Friday, June 5, 2009
"Fast Cash Ads" and scams often overwhelm and mislead people looking for telecommuting, part-time, freelance, and online jobs
Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of FlexJobs.com recently spoke with Sean Cole of Marketplace Money about searching for online jobs.In the segment, CEO Fell discusses that as a result of the current economy, there has been a shift in the demographics of job-seekers interested in online jobs. While FlexJobs primary audience was once stay at home moms, the audience has changed over the past six months. Fell says, "People who would have never previously considered telecommuting jobs or work from home jobs are very much looking towards it as a viable professional option."
Online jobs -- from full-time to part-time to contract and freelance jobs -- can provide a helpful income stream in these challenging economic times. In addition, freelance and online jobs are an affordable way for employers to hire staff as needed without incurring unmanageable overhead expenses.
The Marketplace Money segment cautions that to make an income online, people need to be prepared to do an actual job such as those listed on a resource like the Education & Training Online Jobs or Part-time Online Jobs sections of FlexJobs.com, rather than a job that sounds too good to be true - and is almost certainly a job scam.
Listen to the podcast of Sara Sutton Fell on Marketplace Money at About FlexJobs - Press & Reviews
Fed Up With Your Screenplay? Breathe New Life Into Your Script With This Screenwriting Trick by Jacob Krueger
I recently had a student who hit a major roadblock in his script. He emailed me, absolutely despondent, to tell me he was not having fun any more, didn't like anything he was writing, and that after almost six months of work he was thinking about throwing the whole script in the trash and just starting something new.
Ever felt like that? If you're a writer, you probably have. So before you dump those pages you've worked so hard on, know this:
ALL writers have tons of scripts sitting in their files that are not completed. Sometimes you hit a wall. Sometimes you lose steam. Sometimes it just takes a month or even a year of working on something else to find your way back in.
There is nothing wrong with setting a script aside, UNLESS it starts to become a habit. What happens to some writers is that every time they hit a roadblock, they start something new. While this is great for keeping up the flow-- and just fine for writers who are doing it as a hobby, for people with professional aspirations, it can actually become a form of writers block.
Professional writers need to finish scripts. So here's a little trick that I use to fool my brain into finishing scripts. Work on two scripts at a time. This way, you can honor your writing brain's need for a break every once in awhile-- while still knowing that you are progressing toward your goals.
What you'll soon notice is that when things get hard on one script, the other script becomes incredibly appealing. It doesn't even feel like work anymore. So you set your current script down, and start up on the other one again.
Before long, things get hard on the second script, and suddenly the problems with the first one don't seem so overwhelming in comparison. So you switch back, and once again keep that momentum going, accepting and respecting your process on each screenplay, and integrating it with the demands of the industry.
As a nice side benefit, you'll find that the scripts start to inform one another-- as you build on things you learned writing one script to improve things in the other.
In addition, you may also want to set aside a day to just play, by creating fun writing exercises for yourself that have nothing to do with either script. Playing around like this keeps your writing brain limber, and often leads to huge breakthroughs in your projects. Think of it as a valuable part of your routine (like stretching before you exercise).
Keep the main focus on those two scripts (and no more than two!) and before you know it, you'll have two finished drafts. A final word-- remember that it's not important for either of these drafts to be GOOD. What's important is for them to be DONE. Once you have a full draft on paper, you can always go back later and revise-- and even use the two script trick again in the editing process. Until your script is on paper, there is nothing you can do to improve it. But once it's out there, the possibilities are endless.
Copyright (c) Jacob Krueger 2009
Ready To Take The Next Step?
Award Winning Screenwriter Jacob Krueger will forever change the way you look at screenwriting. Sign up for a workshop or master class today.
Web: http://www.jacobkrueger.com/
Phone: 917-464-3594
Ever felt like that? If you're a writer, you probably have. So before you dump those pages you've worked so hard on, know this:
ALL writers have tons of scripts sitting in their files that are not completed. Sometimes you hit a wall. Sometimes you lose steam. Sometimes it just takes a month or even a year of working on something else to find your way back in.
There is nothing wrong with setting a script aside, UNLESS it starts to become a habit. What happens to some writers is that every time they hit a roadblock, they start something new. While this is great for keeping up the flow-- and just fine for writers who are doing it as a hobby, for people with professional aspirations, it can actually become a form of writers block.
Professional writers need to finish scripts. So here's a little trick that I use to fool my brain into finishing scripts. Work on two scripts at a time. This way, you can honor your writing brain's need for a break every once in awhile-- while still knowing that you are progressing toward your goals.
What you'll soon notice is that when things get hard on one script, the other script becomes incredibly appealing. It doesn't even feel like work anymore. So you set your current script down, and start up on the other one again.
Before long, things get hard on the second script, and suddenly the problems with the first one don't seem so overwhelming in comparison. So you switch back, and once again keep that momentum going, accepting and respecting your process on each screenplay, and integrating it with the demands of the industry.
As a nice side benefit, you'll find that the scripts start to inform one another-- as you build on things you learned writing one script to improve things in the other.
In addition, you may also want to set aside a day to just play, by creating fun writing exercises for yourself that have nothing to do with either script. Playing around like this keeps your writing brain limber, and often leads to huge breakthroughs in your projects. Think of it as a valuable part of your routine (like stretching before you exercise).
Keep the main focus on those two scripts (and no more than two!) and before you know it, you'll have two finished drafts. A final word-- remember that it's not important for either of these drafts to be GOOD. What's important is for them to be DONE. Once you have a full draft on paper, you can always go back later and revise-- and even use the two script trick again in the editing process. Until your script is on paper, there is nothing you can do to improve it. But once it's out there, the possibilities are endless.
Copyright (c) Jacob Krueger 2009
Ready To Take The Next Step?
Award Winning Screenwriter Jacob Krueger will forever change the way you look at screenwriting. Sign up for a workshop or master class today.
Web: http://www.jacobkrueger.com/
Phone: 917-464-3594
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