There are also other 'features' of these novel-writing programs, of course, but they generally fall into two categories:questionnaires about your characters and questionnaires about your locations; with the occasional database built in to store your answers. Once again, you can get something like this for free by reading on - and unlike many of these expensive programs, you can print out your answers and store them however you like.  It's important to remember that the exact questions you ask, and answer, are to some extent irrelevant.  What is important is that you know everything you need to be comfortable with your characters and settings.  If you know them, if you can see them in your imagination, then your writing will show that and your readers will have a better chance of seeing and feeling your characters in their own imaginations.

Let's begin.

Character Questionnaire

Complete one of these for every main character, be it your hero, villain or a main supporting character.  Answer all the questions you need to know your character a little better than you think you'll need to.

1. Have they changed their name since birth? If so, what were they originally called and why did they change it?
2. What gender are they?
3. Have they changed gender? If so, when?
4. Where were they born?
5. When were they born?
6. Where did they grow up? If it's different to where they were born, why did they move?
7. Where do they live now? If it's different to where they grew up, why did they move?
8. What is their mother's name (including maiden name)?
9. What is their father's name?
10. Are they adopted?
11. If they are, do they know?
12. If they are adopted, what are the names of their birth parents
13. If they are adopted, what are the circumstances behind their adoption?
14. How tall is your character?
15. What colour is their skin?
16. What colour are their eyes?
17. What colour is their hair?
18. What do they sound like (accent, tone of voice, pitch, etc)?
19. What sort of personality do they have?
20. What level of education do they have?
21. When did they leave education and why?
22. What sort of job do they have?
23. Do they like their job?
24. What would they ideally be doing?
25. What is their life's ambition?
26. Are they in touch with their family?
27. If so, are they close?
28. Are they in a relationship at the moment?
29. If yes, what is the relationship like?
30. If yes, who are they in a relationship with?
31. If yes, are they faithful?
32. If they aren't in a relationship, why not?
33. If they aren't in a relationship, have they been in one in the past?
34. If there anything else we should know about the character?

Location Questionnaire

Locations are important, both for providing an interesting and imaginative environment that propels the story along at a fast pace but they also provide the atmosphere that makes your readers suspend disbelief and really feel like they are there, inside your story, watching what is going on.  They are as important as the characters who walk through them.

1. Where is this location?
2. Is it significant to any of the characters in the story? Why?
3. Describe the sounds in this location.
4. Describe the smells in this location.
5. Describe the appearance of this location.
6. Is there anything in this location (e.g. furniture, trees, sewer entrances, burned out cars, etc.)? Describe these things.
7. Why is this location in your story?
8. Is there anything else we should know about this location?

Story Questionnaire

Story is important.  We've all come across a novel where there appears to be no story whatsoever, or if there is it's a simple excuse for an action sequence or set of jokes.  Books of this sort rarely, if ever, top the bestseller lists and are often forgotten soon after they pass out of the 'new releases' section of the local bookshop.  The story is what propels the novel.  It's what grabs a reader as hard as any captivating character, so you need to have a firm grasp on where your novel is going.

1. Who is your main protagonist (the person on which the story will focus, and usually through whose eyes we will view the story unfold)?
2. Why is this person the protagonist?
3. Who is the main antagonist (the person causing problems and conflict for your protagonist to overcome)?
4. Why is this person the antagonist?
5. What is the problem the protagonist must solve?
6. Why is it important that they solve it?
7. How will this problem be solved?
8. How is the protagonist introduced to the story?
9. How do they come across the problem around which this story will revolve?
10. Is there anyone who will help them solve this problem? Why?
11. Is there anyone who will hinder them in solving this problem (other than the main antagonist)? Why?

These questionnaires are by no means the be-all and end-all of storytelling but if you can answer them fully and to the best of your ability, expanding on them where you feel you need to, then you should have a very good grip on your story.

Once you know what you're writing and you have a good picture of your characters, locations and so forth in your head you will find that you don't need expensive software to help you write. You can write by hand, with a typewriter, with something like WordPad or even with fully-functional word processing software like Word or OpenOffice.org. You have the tools at your fingertips because the tools of the storytelling trade are in your head. Everything else is simply an aid to writing, nothing more.

Finally, don't worry if what you write doesn't seem top-notch - it may even seem like the worst thing ever written. That's not a problem. The thing to remember is that you need to get your story down on paper or on the screen. Once your story is finished and you have it there at your fingertips, you can go over it again, refine it and develop any areas you feel are lacking. This editorial stage is where stories become good, readable tales that you might find people actually enjoy but you have to remember that in order to get to the editorial stage, you must push on through the first draft.  To get to the truffles, you have to wade through dirt.

What kind of business? How much money would I need? What assistance might be available? To find out these and the many other things I would have to research business startups.

According to the United States Small Business Administration:

“Careful planning is fundamental to success. The Small Business Planner includes information and resources that will help you at any stage of the business life-cycle.” [Small Business Administration, Small Business Planner].

When I first started going through the information I was overwhelmed! There were so many topics to worry about, but I felt with proper planning I could meet the challenge.

In an interview with Rick Hendrick, an extremely successful Automobile Dealer [Life of an Internet Entrepreneur ] the following traits he found led to his success:

1. Optimism. Think positive.
   
2. Faith. Believe in yourself, God and your country.
   
3. Planning. Know what’s important each day; set your priorities accordingly.
   
4. Determination. Have the courage to stand alone when taking the big risks in life.
   
5. Vision. Think big, dream big, keep success in your mind.
   
6. Attitude. If you think you can’t, you’re right. Winners have positive attitudes.
   
7. Goals. Set goals. Plan how to achieve them.
   
8. Perseverance. Try and try again until the goal is achieved. Never give up.
   
9. Knowledge. Learn to accept your mistakes, but make them only once.
10. Enthusiasm. Choose work you like. Enjoy the challenges.

All of the research that I did indicated that sound business planning was the only path to succeeding in my own business. I contacted SCORE, a resource partner of the Small Business Administration. There, I was assigned a counselor who interviewed me about my interests and why I wanted to be an entrepreneur.

The SCORE counselor took great pains to make sure that I understood many new businesses fail. I would need sufficient funds to get my business going and live on as well. He emphasized that starting a new business was hard work and would consume my time until the business got on a solid foundation.

After our discussion, I concluded that I wanted to undertake the creation of my own business. I relied heavily on SCORE counselors to assist with the creation of a business plan and a budget. As my spouse had a good job we could live on one income for a short while and I could build my business.

With SCORE helping with the Business Plan and financial planning, my great desire to have my own business, my optimism that I could succeed, as well as a vision of how my company would operate, I was confident that I could succeed in the writing field and do something I would really enjoy.

Leaving the safety of the corporate world is a major, life altering decision. An individual needs to insure that it is a lifestyle that he/she can endure. One must make sure there is enough capital to start a business and live on too. They should have a passion for what they choose to do, if they choose to start their own business.

Research and planning are the tools that will help one to decide these and other factors in making a decision to start one's own business.      

Journaling also allows a young person to learn more about the process of note taking. The better notes they are able to take, the better off they should be able to do in school.

There journal does not have to be limited to words, their journal can also contain pictures they drew. Both writing and drawing facilitate the process. Do not limit your child as to what they can put into their journal. Your child should decide what they should add to their journal. Allowing them to enter what they want in their journal peaks their creativity, and the more creative they are allowed to be, the easier they will be able to understand things, as they grow older. They can also have more than one journal.

Journaling is a way for your child to learn more about themselves. That is why it is so important for them to be allowed to be creative. Despite what people may think, using ones creativity is a way for someone to learn more about who they are. Even if they are doing something it turns out, they are not very good at doing. It gives a child a way to examine things that may be challenging to them. It can also start them at a young age to be more of a problem solver. The most important thing is that they are allowed to be creative and the rest will happen from there. Even if when you give them their first journal and the first question out of their mouth is, “What do I write in it?” so starts the process.

Some people might thing it is some kind of writers' block. I have experienced this situation and thought so. But the writers' can be overcome very easily if we have the will to write for whatever may be the reason we want to write. Soon I have realized it is the mismanagement of time that is causing the problem.

I could spend some time for writing on weekends but not on week days. In the night I do not feel like writing but feel like reading postpone that to morning activity. The thought of writing in the early morning seems very much good but I could never make it up. This is because I am not a morning person. Some people can easily make it to writing in the morning.

Finally I had realized it has deep connections with my lifestyle and started planning to write in the nights. So whether you plan to write in the morning or in the night is up to you and your lifestyle. People who are comfortable to get up early in the morning can easily write in the morning. Only those having trouble to get up in the morning, end up wasting time in the night and losing time in the morning also. So the best choice is to write whenever there is opportunity.

If one looks at his daily activities and realizes that one does other activities whenever he gets a chance then it is better to take any opportunity to write rather than planning time.