January/February 2003, Vol. 24, No. 1 Table of Contents

	Columns
2	..... Editor's Note
4	..... Readers' P.O.V.
4	..... Massaging the Muse, by Lynne Remick
	............ Plot Your Way to a Fresh Start for Your Character
5	..... Marketing Helps, by Janet Elaine Smith
	............. Building Your Presence
6	..... Effective Screenwriting, by Jerry McGuire
	............. Let's "Talk" Screenplays Depending on your level of screenwriting experience, maybe you did not realize that a script uses a slightly different language than most sane people speak or understand. At times, even extremely successful novelists face translation troubles when converting their books form print to screenplays....
8	..... Photography Techniques, by Ronald D. Kness
	............. Compose for Impact Composition controls how much impact your photos have on the people viewing those photos. Below are some tips and techniques you can use to maximize the impact of your photos....
10	..... Computer Business, by Robert Anthony Robinson
	................. How to Internet a Writing Job If you're a professional writer, expect to work online in the years ahead. In order to deal with the scarcity of skilled writers (emphasis on "skilled") in today's market, publishers, contractors, and small businesses alike have turned to online means for contracting their writing tasks. Studies show that mare than 98 percent of all companies will post their available writing jobs online by 2003....
57	..... For Beginners Only, by Melissa Gray
	..... Breaking Eggs—Beware of the Comfortable Rut Like any professional, writers can find themselves in a rut. A comfortable amount of assignments coming in, not too hard, not too challenging, just enough to get by. Well, I recently found myself in such a spot. I hadn't queried much for a while, didn't have too many submissions making the rounds and was working for a couple of editors here and there....
58	..... Words...Tools Of Our Trade, by Betty Garton Ulrich
	.............. Watch Out for Flashbacks One of the sacrosanct commands given by those who write books on writing is Watch out for flashbacks....
59	*..... Writers'* Journal Market Report,** by Laurie Graziano
	Canadian magazines/newsletters appeal to writers in the States because they cover many international topics. And many writers enjoy submitting work to their publications. But, as a Canadian editor once told me, Canada should not be treated as just another state in the United States. Hew was receiving mail with insufficient postages, SASEs with Canadian postage, and other improperly addressed letters...
	Feature Articles
12	..... Is There a Book Doctor in the House?,
	by Dennis E. Hensley
	............... A Prescription for Success When Virginia Muir was senior editor at Tyndale House, she rejected the manuscript of a young would-be novelist. Later, that man confronted Virginia at a writers' conference. "You can have edited my manuscript and made it publishable," the man insisted. Virginia responded, "I am sorry, young man, but I can only heal the sick, not raise the dead."....
14	..... The Uncluttered Cluster, by Debbie Ouellet
	............... A Hybrid Technique for Writing Poetry I'd like to say that whenever I writer poetry, streams of verse flow from my fingertips like an ancient waters of Hippocrene. Occasionally, when my muse is feeling especially generous, they do. More time than not, though, I'm given no more than a single image or line to work with. It wheedles itself into my brain, demanding to be written, expanded, molded into a poem. I rush to the keyboard, fingers posed, eyes on the screen. and type the line. And that's where my creativity stops; one line with miles of blank white space yawning before me....
16	..... Beyond the Web, Part 1, by Julie Duffy
	............... List Servers World Wide Web, WWW, dotcom... how many people invite you, every day, to visit their Web page? Well, don't forget there are other ways for writers to connect, online....
19	..... The New Writing Partnership,
	by Susan B. Stroh & Heide P. Boyden
	............... How to Make It Work for You It's Saturday night and you're all alone! You should be writing, but who's going to know if you watch reruns of The Brady Bunch instead? Wouldn't it be nice to have a relationship like all those other lucky people? You know, a supportive, caring, significant other. One who will get you through writer's block. One you can call when you've written that flawless poem and want instant feedback. One who doesn't care that you can't cook! What you need and want is a writing partner....
22	..... Getting Out Guilt-Free, by Ceri Usmar
	................ Five Ways to Mix Work and Play Don Vaughan has been a freelance writer for more than ten years and is currently so busy he barely has time to check the time, much less check out. But, regardless of how hectic his schedule becomes, Vaughan always tries to pencil in a little "Outside" time each week. "I find getting out of the house a necessary part of keeping my creative batteries charged, " he explains....
41	..... For Better or Verse, by Anne McDowell
	................ Try Greeting Card Writing When I couldn't find the sentiment I needed at our local greeting card shop, I decided to try writing some ideas myself. (How difficult can it be?)....
43	..... Bigstep.com, by Linda Frances Lein
	................ A Simple Step-by-Step Web Site Service Not every writer has the time or the desire to learn how to create his/her own Web site with the latest available software programs. Yet, every writer should have a Web site because it's an excellent way to promote their publications, book signings, and speaking engagements. The solution: find an Internet site that will host and provide easy-to-use templates at a reasonable cost and that doesn't require any knowledge of HTML programming. My recommendation is Bigstip.com....
44	..... Highlighting Your Way to a Successful Reading,
	by Belinda Anderson
	................ Manuscript Marking I wish everybody would quit hassling me. I'll do something about Evelyn eventually. My great-aunt, Wanda says it's sacrilegious to haul Evelyn around in a bucket in the trunk of my car. It' snot a bucket. It's a black plastic container, like heavy-duty Tupperware. I've started locking the Impala, because I wouldn't put it past Wanda to try to swipe Evelyn....
46	..... The Art of Feedback, by Tim Waggoner
	................ Test-Marketing Your Words We write in solitary, struggling to get our words just right. But even when we think we're finished, how do we truly know the work is the absolute best it can be before we send our writing out to fend for itself in the cold, cruel word of editors and readers?....
	Fiction Section
	July 2002 Romance Contest Winners
27	..... The Right Way, by Trish Frederick
	First Prize Winner
28	..... A Café in the Countryside, by Louis J. Cattani
	Second Prize Winner
30	..... A Ring of Truth, by Virginia Clough
	Third Prize Winner
32	..... John and the Owl, by Richard L. Gillaspy
..... "Staring Down at the Cold, Stone Floor..."
	................................ by Jeanne C. Masella
	Poetry
48	..... Every Day With Poetry, by Esther Leiper-Jefferson
	................. Translation, Please If someone says something using vocabulary you don't understand, what are you apt to ask if your response is more genteel than "Huh?"....
54	..... Esther Comments On..., by Esther Leiper-Jefferson
	................. "Noah's Dove" and "Plenty"