In this issue:

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

WRITING AVENUES

Randomly pick an item; any item. Yes, I know you're going to take the proper amount of time to do this, but trust me, just pick an item. Now, examine this item closely and get a clear image in your mind of how this selected piece can be used. In 100-150 words, write a "how-to-use" article that describes the technical aspects necessary for use.

Writing a Writing Grant Proposal
by James G. Rogers, CPA

At first glance, the title of this article sounds like a tongue-twister, or maybe something akin to expecting you to pilot a Cessna to the airport so you can take flying lessons. If you can write well enough to get a writing grant, you don't need one, right?

Not necessarily.

This article is one of a series in the Gazette dealing with technical writing. If you're an author in search of a grant to do some writing, there are certain things about crafting such a proposal that will help you get a "yes." This piece will review the major factors that will contribute to your successful grant proposal.

Know your audience. Fiction and nonfiction writers alike know the importance of writing for their audiences. The first question to ask when writing a grant proposal for a writing (or any other worthy) project is this: Is the foundation or funding organization you want to approach for a writer's grant offering or willing to make grants to writers for writing projects? Before you begin to craft your proposal, make sure that your target funder will even read what you submit.

The Guide to U.S. Foundations is an excellent source for the more than 30,000 American foundations and organizations. A good academic or public library would likely have or have access to the Guide. Another source is an organization called FC Search, which produces a CD-ROM that makes identifying foundations and other granting organizations a matter of a few mouse clicks.

Request and then follow the guidelines. Most foundations and grantmakers offer specific guidelines to tell proposal writers what to send. If you've identified a potential funder for a writing project, ask for their written submission guidelines and then follow them.

Be brief yet complete. Even as you follow the grantmakers' guidelines, remember that reputable organizations get many more proposals asking for more money than they can possibly satisfy. State your case succinctly and interestingly. Avoid excess verbiage but address all of the matters at hand. Make your proposal's reader want to turn the page all the while being mindful of the fact that there shouldn't be too many pages to turn.

Ask for the right amount. If you've done your homework, you'll know the range of grants the foundation or organization has given in the last reporting year. You can be reasonably sure that the higher awards were based on longer-standing relationships between the grantmaker and the recipients. Don't ask for the moon in your first proposal. Better that you get a more modest "yes" than a hefty "no."

Grant proposal writing isn't all that different from any other writing. The more compelling it is, the more likely it is to evoke a positive response in the reader. Grant writing requires more precision, but its success or failure in terms of outcome will depend less on nitty-gritty specifics than on your ability to craft persuasive, interesting prose.

When you get that acceptance, take special pleasure in writing the thank-you letter, which may well be the precursor to your next grant proposal to that funder.

* * * * *

timely thriller, Capitol Chill, is available from BuyBooksOnTheWeb.com either on their Web site or by calling toll-free 1-877-BUY-BOOK. His pen name is James Gardiner. He currently has a traditional agent marketing his second work the old-fashioned way. Rogers is at work on the manuscript for his third novel.

Tips for Writing Technical Documents
by Denise Vitola

Let's face it. Every writer wants to pen fiction and the Great American Novel. The truth is most don't. Most write technical documents for their day jobs.

Boring, you say? Slow, tedious and mind-numbing? It doesn't have to be. Writing technical documents will never be like writing a sci-fi adventure story, but if you wrap your head just right around the challenge, you can produce a non-fiction work of art.

So, what is first? Mindset. You have to pump up your thoughts. Delete that nasty, little voice in your head that insists this kind of writing is 'second-rate' and replace it with a positive attitude.
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Next--study the parameters of the technical document. Writing a paper without properly defining it puts you in the middle of supernova--it's only a matter of time before it explodes into a million charred pieces. Ask yourself these important questions:

What is the purpose of the paper? What is it supposed to do for the person reading it? Can it be presented as one long, document or do you need to break it into sections? Will it need an index, glossary, table of contents, and an appendix? Is this document intended for the Internet as part of a web site? Or will it be printed, bound and distributed?

Once you have determined the purpose of the paper, you can then begin to organize your information. Gather all your sources before you begin to write, and don't just put the info into one big heap. Use a notebook or filing drawer and separate the data into manageable segments. It will make it easier for you to go back and check your facts.

The next big thing that you have to concentrate upon is understanding the material yourself. Writing technical documents is not like writing fiction. You must be thoroughly versed in the subject; you cannot draw data from your imagination. Learn the vocabulary and learn the science behind what you are trying to explain.

Everything is now organized and at your fingertips. You understand your subject. It is now time for you to decide on the level and type of writing you must produce. Is this technical document for a consumer who may not know all the industry terms? Then, you need to simplify the information so a layman can readily understand what you are saying. Is this paper for insiders who need the nitty-gritty to do their jobs properly? If this is true, then make sure you write toward the expert.

Don't write the document to pieces. Less is more, so make sure you include only the information that is necessary for your reader. Also, make sure that you don't try to add your own voice into the document. People who scan technical information are not looking for humorous asides, opinions, or rants.

Finally, once the paper is done, have a qualified reader look it over carefully to make sure that you've got the info right.

If you follow this basic recipe for writing technical documents, you will always produce on-topic, concise papers that your reader will value and appreciate.

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is a successful web tutorial writer for the Internet Eye Magazine. She specializes in 2D and 3D graphics production. Visit her website Delphic Moments

FROM ANOTHER ANGLE
by Susan Long Turner

FOR THE CURIOUS ONLY

Let thy speech be short,
Comprehending much in a few words
~ Apocrypha

"Apocrypha" designated religious books that were circulating among the inner circle of a group and kept from the public. Supposedly, these books contained information that was esoteric and only for special ones. The evolved term "apocrypha" evoked the mysterious and clandestine.

Apocrypha even appears in the Bible: Mark 4:22 and is commonly translated "secret." As a writer, doesn't it send shivers to think that a word must have peered two thousand or so years into the future to describe hidden aspects in a segment of today's computer language?

The following exchange of E-Mails illustrates this phenomenon. "The Diva" refers to the Emporium Gazette's very own Denise Vitola.

"What the hootie is an html fragment? Handle it, Jabby, handle it. I want to be webbed, tied, drawn, and quartered with anything the Diva does, just so long as I don't have to figure out what she is talking about. The little green thing is pretty. That's all I know. JPEG is a wooden leg to me. Goldie.

Here's the post from Denise that kicked off Goldie's outburst:

"Okay, I'm working on it now. It involves sending you guys a small jpg and an html fragment code. Jabs, I'll explain it so it all makes sense as soon as I make sense of it all.

"By the way, I've started designing my own seamless background tiles. EC, I came up with the attached tile, thinking about your web pages. Thought I'd send it along in case you find it interesting. It should open with your browser.

"Jabs, place the jpg in the same directory as the html page. Code is <BODY BACKGROUND="mintflowers.jpg" TEXT="000000"> It should tile the whole background seamlessly. I think a white or peach-colored text looks good with it. Dark blue, too."

I'm with Goldie and probably many of you. The only tiles I know about are in the kitchen and bath. Except for a few English words here and there, Denise's entire E-Mail is apocrypha to me. Being somewhat curious though, I decided probing a bit might give us an inkling of this html stuff.

Aha! In a book by Dawn Groves, THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO THE INTERNET, Chapter 7, we can find out "How to Create a Web Page." Already on the first page of the chapter, the hidden language ignorant among us discover that HTML means Hypertext Markup Language. "Web pages (also known as Web documents)," the author says, can be created in any word processor, but many people use specialized HTML editor programs to simplify the task."

Looking through the chapter, I see that we seekers could learn a lot, but as for me, at least for the moment, I'll leave it to the experts. I will concede, however, Apocrypha is correct. With HTML under our belt, we could comprehend much in a few short words.

* * * * *

Susan Long Turner is co-author with Russ Turner of "Wings Born Out of Dust" which is available now from 23 House Publishing and is also available in trade paperbacks and hardback at other major online bookstores. Visit her Website

Rhino's Amplified Dictionary
by Ronald Wayne Jones

"Give-and-get"

I've confessed my aversion to shopping at Uncle Sam's discount store, but I end up in his parking lot staring across the sea of cars muttering, "What the heck am I doing here, again?" The answer is that they've got what I need at a reasonable price. There's a lesson in that for writers. I call it the law of "give-and-get."

Your readers want more than an interesting setting, good characters, and a flashy, glossy cover. Like a good pair of stretch pants, your plot should spread and expand from page one until the last paragraph.

This means the stakes should grow similarly. Even if your protagonist should confront the antagonist's flunkies and wins a small battle here and there, things will inevitably get worse as the stakes mount.

Your plot begins like a small underwater earthquake creating a barely noticeable ripple on a calm sea. Further developments and a rising bottom as your plot is revealed should add to this wave so it reaches the shore as massive tidal wave. At the final conflict it threatens to destroy everything.

Your character must grow and expand, much like the conflict. A good character will have flaws, (almost like her creator.) In fact a great character may have exaggerated flaws. I, for one, love writing characters who have mental problems. Please realize that madmen make poor witnesses, and your point-of-view character should be able to distinguish between reality and illusion. Madmen, however, make great secondary characters. Sometimes it is a madman, the fool, or a blind beggar who will have the key to unlocking the mystery behind your plot. After all, madmen look at the world differently than sane characters. That blind sage may "see" details that have escaped your hero.

Each character may play many roles, and madmen play some better than a wise hero. This is because the mentally unbalanced may be immune to the emotions that paint events for the sane. Like a colorblind soldier he can see that sniper in his camouflage clothing setting in that distant tree and avoid the danger.

Your characters surf this growing wave of conflict as it expands across your chapters. As they face each incident your protagonist as well as your antagonist should grow. At the end, they can either chose to face their fears or they can turn their back on the problem. Yes, like us, they still have that choice. You have to decide how they will cope or even if they chose to cope.

When you decide how you end your story, you have one final choice to make. It's time for the paycheck for both the hero and the villain.

A veteran writer, Paris Afton Bonds, once gave me some sage advice. She advised me that as an author I should give my characters what they needed, not what they desired. When your heroine battles through her trials and is victorious over the villain, it's time for her to collect her reward.

You are the god of your story. Like the Power behind the universe, you shouldn't yield to the temptation of giving your characters everything they want. If you heap these rewards upon your heroine like a mountain of gold, it could crush her. She may not be able to handle winning a lottery jackpot. After a year or two her love interest may run off with a richer woman, particularly if money was all he ever wanted.

God doesn't grant our every whim, so why should you? Sometimes He whispers, "No, my lovable fool." The writer should dispense rewards with similar skill and wisdom. Know your character's heart as well or better than you know your own. In the case of the heroine, she has evolved from where you introduced her to your readers, but that doesn't mean she is perfect. Despite what we might think, no one, even a writer, ever evolves to a state of perfection. Consider giving her the skills and rewards she needs to live her remaining life to its fullest.

Likewise, your antagonist deserves a reward for his evil deeds. Nonetheless, balance your justice with the weight of his crimes. Long John Silver's escape from the gallows was no oversight on the part of Treasure Island's author. He even allowed the pirate to row off with a portion of the treasure due to the obvious glimmer of humanity in his heart. Justice should apply equally to the protagonist and the antagonist.

Remember the principle of "give-and-get." Give your readers what they love, and like Wally World shoppers, they'll keep filling your parking lot.

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POETRY WORLD
by R. S. Nailor

Writing what one knows is, in reality, technical writing; but it can also be applied to poetry. Just like the average person will not decide to compose a manuscript on the structural properties of steel, neither will a person decide, “I shall write a poem,” and then do so.

Poetry comes from within, reflecting that which is around the poet. The poet emotes the feelings of the moment. It may be a love lost eons ago, but the emotions that are currently being felt are what goes into the poem; it may or may not have been filtered and modified by time. Of course, there are those poems written in the heat of the moment that reflect the truer feelings, be they good or bad. The final verdict is whether the poem evokes any emotion in the reader.

One would ask of nursery rhymes and how they reflect the emotion. Many of them were political statements, hidden in obscure meter to avoid repercussion; to wit:

Baa baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir.
Three bags full.
One for my master,
One for my dame,
And one for the little boy
That lives in the lane.

The above nursery rhyme is supposedly representing the hardships of paying taxes during the Middle Ages. The peasants were required to give 1/3 their income (crops, etc.) to the king (master), another 1/3 to their nobility (dame) and keep 1/3 for themselves (the little boy) to live on. For more information regarding the obscure aspects of nursery rhymes, please check out: http://www.sca.org.au/bacchus_wood/origins_of_nursery_rhymes.html. This is only one of many sites that can enlighten you regarding the innocent nursery rhymes. Yes, political statements are an emotion!

Other poetry styles, hiaku, sonnet, limerick, also quietly reflect the emotions and exposes the poet’s soul to the reader.

How is this technical? To use the example of the nursery rhyme above, if you can’t feel the hardship of paying taxes, you can’t write with any amount of certainty regarding that fact. One can rest assured that neither the king, nor any nobility, penned those lines. He who receives can’t feel the pain of giving.

Just as engineers write about the molecular properties of steel, a poet must know, and feel it down in the gut, what they are writing about. This, in turn, will bare the poet’s soul to the world.

Yes, write what you know.

* * * * *

R. S. Nailor is Poetry Editor and Production Manager for the Emporium Gazette. His manuscript, THREE STEPS: THE JOURNEYS OF AYROLD, is currently in the final stages of editing. He has short stories included in three ebook anthologies from 23House and numerous articles and poems elsewhere on the internet. You can visit him at Lore's Webs.

I AM, THEREFORE...
by R. S. Nailor

The executive's office was plain, in fact, sterile, including the simple large wooden desk. Paul sat behind the desk and stared while the defeated man departed. The executive fumed as he remembered the conversation. 'How arrogant of Dennis. To think that I am here because he deemed it so.' He thrummed his fingers in agitation on the desktop and glared at the closing door. 'Absolute arrogance.'

Paul slowly faded to nothingness. The door clicked shut.

* * * * *

Dennis turned left as he passed through the doorway from the CEO's office and continued down the hallway. 'Out of sight, out of mind' he thought.

He shook his head and glanced about his world: dimly lit corridor, dirty tan walls of peeling paint, out-of-date pictures in ugly frames. 'I should be able to prove my point. All appears as it is because I say it is. What a terrible portrait!' It faded and changed from a black and white non-descript picture of a person to a colorful oil of mountains, a river valley and pines. 'Much better.' Dennis then grabbed the doorknob to his office. 'See? Here's my office. How else could it be? I decided that it was here.' He turned the knob and pushed the frosted glass door inward.

Miss Hinsley looked up from her typing, a lone gray lock of hair straying down over her eyebrow. The faux pearl necklace gave little color to the drab brown dress that she wore.

"Oh, you're back." She scurried to retrieve the pink phone message slips. "There was a call from Mr. Bartlow wanting to know the final details of the shipment. A Miss Evelyn Parker of Parker Employment called about placing a student during the summer." She looked up from the messages to watch him. "Are you okay?" she asked as she caught the errant hairs and finger combed them back into her tresses.

"Fine, Jean. I'm just fine." He took the messages proffered then started to his office. 'She works so hard. Maybe I should consider a student to assist her.'

"Jean, do you think we should hire a student, say part-time, to help out around here?" He turned to face her again. A young man started to shimmer into existence near the file cabinet.

"Oh, Mr. Miller." She tittered as she spoke. "Having some young person in here would surely be nice, but I fear it would slow me up. I'd always be checking to... Well, I think you understand." She smiled innocently, almost erasing the sixty plus years of lines from her face.

"Just a thought, Jean. Just a thought." Dennis stepped into his office and the faint image of the man near the files faded. 'If she was younger,' he thought.

He could feel Miss Hinsley watch him; her thoughts came to him. 'He certainly was pale. I do hope that he's not catching something.' She again started typing. The tapping of the manual typewriter keys increased in tempo as her wrinkled hands softened and the age spots disappeared. The lines at the corner of her eyes blended away and the gray in her hair deepened to a lustrous black as a youthfulness was restored to her. This was the image Dennis carried for the next few seconds. The typing ended and a more youthful Miss Hinsley dissipated from existence.

* * * * *

Not one person is able to understand what I'm saying. Even my secretary thinks I'm catching something.' He looked out his big office window at the busy street thirty-three floors below. The building on the opposite side of the street had just been built, blocking the skyline view he had enjoyed a mere two months ago. 'There seems to be more and more people. Just look at them down there.' He watched the small dots move then turned back to his metal gray desk shaking his head with disgust.

'If only one person. Ah, but who? They are all of my making and that's the catch.' Dennis looked at a blank sheet of paper. 'Interesting. If I am the only one, then who else could understand?'

"They." The uttered word shattered the silence as his arm swept an arbitrary arc to indicate the all-encompassing 'they'. "They would never understand since I am." He slammed his clenched hand onto his now wooden desk. 'Wood has a better tone for fist-banging on desks, it resonates better. Metal is cold,' he thought. 'What I need is some solitude.'

Dennis turned and looked out the window. He watched the birds as they flitted from tree to tree. White cottony clouds filled a sky of perfect blue. A light breeze carried the scent of spring flowers in through the open window and a screen warded the pesky insects outside.

"Miss Hinsley, could you come in and take some dictation?"

She appeared at the door in a pink ruffled blouse and white skirt; her raven colored hair held back with a thin matching pink headband. She carried a steno pad in her right hand, pens in the left; the dark plum nail polish accented the long nails.

"Oh, what a glorious day. We're certainly fortunate that our office is in a small community on the edge of town. Is that lilac I smell?" she said.

He watched as she walked to the chair near the window, sat down and crossed her shapely legs.

"Please forgive me, Miss Hinsley, but I have a strange question to ask." Dennis suddenly turned and looked again out the window, dreaming.

"A question, Mr. Miller?" she said, waiting and fidgeting with her pad and pencils.

"Oh," he said and looked at her. "Ah, tell me, do you enjoy fishing?"

"I... I used to go fishing with my father when I was a little girl. I'd collect flowers." She looked up at Dennis, a spark within her deep emerald green eyes. She remembered her childhood and the fun.

"I was just thinking," he began. "Wouldn't it be fun to go fishing."

The room shimmered and disappeared.

* * * * *

The water moved slowly by him; the line snapped in the air as the fly rod whipped back and forth. A little girl sat on the bank watching, smiling, holding flowers. The river was clear and cold. It rippled quietly around and between his waders. The mountains in the distance still had a small amount of snow on them.

'I don't know what to do. Whatever I want, it is,' he thought as he beheld his latest achievement. "I am, therefore it exists for me," he yelled and listened to it echo away.

He flicked the line and a trout snapped at the fly. The struggle began.

'I just know Paul is going to have a fit when he finds me gone.' The stream and fish faded.

* * * * *

Beyond Paul, outside the window on the opposite side of the street, a new building stood soaring a multitude of floors above them, and a milling populace below, to hide the distant skyline.

"I've given thought to your idea, Dennis." Paul whirled about in his plain wooden chair. "I really feel that we need to discuss this issue." He folded his hands together then placed them firmly in front of him on the desk. "It needs to be resolved."

'I don't need to do anything with you, Paul. I am, therefore you are. Just the same as everything else, you are my creation, made for me by me.' Dennis thought as he casually stared out the window beyond Paul. 'I am, therefore it exists for me.'

"Dennis, I'm concerned. It seems that you might be headed..." He stopped abruptly and ceased to exist, as did the room.

Dennis' thoughts ended as he grabbed his chest in the throes of a seizure and died.

* * * * *

There was a void and it would remain until there was a thought.

* * * * *

R. S. Nailor is Poetry Editor and Production Manager for the Emporium Gazette. His manuscript, THREE STEPS: THE JOURNEYS OF AYROLD, is currently in the final stages of editing. He has short stories included in three ebook anthologies from 23House and numerous articles and poems elsewhere on the internet. You can visit him at Lore's Webs.