For any type of writing, whether fiction or nonfiction, you must find your idea. What is your idea? What is your best idea? Keep an idea notebook and write down your best writing ideas. Select an idea first.

For writing, it's not just enough to have an idea. There are many ideas. How do you select a best ideas? Review your ideas. Which of these ideas is your best idea? And which idea allows you to do your best writing?

Suppose you have a couple of best ideas--writing about advertising and marketing and writing about jewelry? Then, you which of these "best ideas" allows you to also do your best writing? If jewelry, then write about jewelry. If advertising and marketing, then write about advertising and marketing.

Write Based Upon Your Best Idea

Next you must write based upon this best idea. Also, it should be an idea worthy of you as a writer. Sometimes writers have very good ideas, but those ideas are not truly their best ideas and truly worthy of them.

Of course, if you are writing on commission or writing for a client, then you can write based upon ideas that the client is interested in, like writing business books. Let's say you prefer writing about jewelry, but your client wants an advertising and marketing article, then write the advertising and marketing article according to your clients commission.

If you have client who wants you to write business books, and you're a professional writer, then you can certainly write business books for that client. However, it's best to write not in your name, since these are client-based books, but in the name of your company or the client's company. Since you are not writing these business books for yourself, but for another person. You can also write in a pen name when writing books on commission. Sometimes poets and screenplay writers write on commission in their names, but usually it's best to write in a pen name or company, since often writers don't want to identify their own names with this commissioned subject.

As for film commissions, for example. If you're commissioned to write a film on a certain subject, then, you don't mind writing the film, but you're not necessarily interested in having your "good name" on that type of movie. Therefore, you can agree to write the film in a pen name and/or in your company name. That's not the type of movie that you would ordinarily write, nor the subject, nor do you want your "good name" connected to that movie. But you are a professional writer, and of course, you can write a movie on almost any subject matter.

That's the same if you are a composer and people want you to compose music for a film. You have to decide if you want your "good name" connected to that film project, not just for the commission. Of course if you're a professional composer, you can compose music for almost any type of movie. Do you want that movie project or not?

However, after you select the idea, then you write the essay or the short story or the film.

Evaluate What You Have Written

Once you write, then you must evaluate what you have written. Is your writing any good? How can you make what you have written better? In addition to reading and rereading the work yourself, you can also ask others, such as editors and other readers, including professional readers to read your works and help you to decide if what you are writing is any good. Again, is the writing worthy of you and the type of person that you are--not just that others like or don't like the work.

Sometimes writers write works that others like but those works are not really worthy of them as writers. They can either write better than that and/or they prefer to write about different subjects that maybe their audience is not interested in. Then they must find a different audience. If you're a scholarly type for example, and you're asked to write for tabloids--should you write for tabloids? Certainly you can do that type of writing just like you write scholarly writing. Again, many professional writers are able to write many different types of genres and many different types of writing.

But do you want to write tabloid journalism and if so, do you want your "good name" on this type of writing? Maybe scholarly writing doesn't pay any money, but if you're truly a scholar, then you should perhaps do scholarly writing and the tabloid writing in a pen name or a company name. Even if editors of the tabloid press are telling you this is great writing, you must decide if it's great writing and if it's the type of writing that you truly want to do. Perhaps you prefer scholarly writing, but you write better tabloid journalism, then you can write tabloid journalism. But continue to read scholarly works,

continue to improve your scholarship and your scholarly writing if that is truly you. In addition, sometimes people prefer a type of writing that others are good at but they are not. Continue to read the type of writing that you are truly interested in, continue to improve your writing, and continue to learn about your favorite type of writing.

Review Your Work Again

Once you write and evaluate, then review your work again, polish your writing, check for spelling and grammar and again review style and content.

After you review and polish your writing, then submit it for publication to a market you think will publish your type of writing.

If the editors accept the writing that's very good, but if the editors reject the writing, review the reasons for the rejection. Do you agree or disagree? If you agree, then revise and resubmit to the same market and/or to a different market.

Find a Market that Regularly Publishes Your Work

However, you need to find a market that regularly publishes your work, along with the new markets that you are trying to write for. The market that regularly publishes your works gives you some consistency as a writer, while you research and try to find new markets.

If you can not find an market that regularly publishes your work, you can start your own blog and you can also self publish. Continue to write, review, evaluate, edit your writing. Continue to read the best writers. Continue to research new market and submit your writing. Publish your best writing.

If you're an online writer, then consider writing an article series.

An article series are self-contained articles that can be used as the chapters of your nonfiction book.

First, you should not sign away the copyright to these articles, but should publish them in non-exclusive format.

Write the title of your nonfiction work. Write an outline of the chapters. Perhaps you decide your book should be 12-24 chapters.

Once you write your outline, then you can begin writing the articles for your selected websites.

You can publish the articles with one or several web content provides.

Again, these should be self-contained articles.

For example your nonfiction book could be about sales and marketing strategies.

Each chapter then would focus on sales and marketing strategies, e.g. for online marketing.

You have your title, you have your focus of the article series.

Then you can begin your research.

What are the principle marketing strategies used in e-commerce?

If you're an online entrepreneur, then you should already have most of the information. The research is filling in the details and providing example from online entrepreneurs.

In addition, perhaps others are making use of marketing strategies that you haven't yet made use or don't yet know about, some of these perhaps new and innovative.

Each chapter or rather each article focusses on the traditional online marketing strategies and then the innovative techniques.

You write the article series and publish online.

Once you've written your series of articles then you have your book.

You can submit this book to a commercial publishers and/or you can self-publish with a print-on-demand publisher. Or you can self-publish first and then submit to a commercial publisher.

This technique can be used to write other nonfiction works.

Many writers don't like writing in first person for the same reason that actors don't like playing certain roles in the movies. And certainly they don't like to be typecast.

If people know you very well and you have an identity independent of your movie roles, say an Oprah Winfrey, for example, then you can play many different characters, and many different personas, yet people are able to tell the difference between the "persona" Sophia in The Color Purple, for example, and the "persona" called Oprah Winfrey. Most people don't approach Oprah Winfrey thinking she's Sophia, nor is the author of the original work a Sophia either.

For young writers, selecting a literary persona can be a problem. Most young writers assume that people know them so well that they can tell the difference between the author they know, and various fictional characters and/or caricatures. It is surprising to writers and actors that people can't tell the difference, and they appear not to be able to tell the difference. Sometimes writers and actors themselves can also, like their fans, become confused about their true identity, and just start "playing a role."

Artists need to education fans about this and they also need to educate themselves on personas in movies, books, video, works of art.

This confusion of identity can be very destructive for artists and for their fans. And for people that just know them. Marilyn Monroe for example was perhaps destroyed as much by Marilyn Monroe herself as by the persona of Marilyn Monroe. Other actors have complained about this phenomena. Those for whom the persona is not a destructive persona can just "play along," but for others it can be a matter for concern.

The dilemma of persona as media image or public image is same dilemma for many public figures. If a Ronald Reagan is truly an intelligent man or if an Elvis is a person very well-read, then these are good things to learn. Maybe they don't jibe with the persona, but it's necessary knowledge.

As for actors concerned about typecasting, perhaps it's best that they refuse certain roles, and/or mix those roles with many different types of roles and many different types of sensibilities. Dumb blondes shouldn't just play dumb blondes, they can play intelligent blondes. Writers also find that they can have a problem with literary typecasting, where readers only want the same type of book, the same type of literary personality.

American journalists who write for the popular media are told that the American public reads on 9th grade level? So they write on 9th grade level? We suppose that American readers like international readers can read above 9th grade level. But if you want 9th grade level, journalists can give you 9th grade level, just don't approach these journalists thinking they're also on 9th grade level. That's literary persona. We assume that American TV personalities communicate on the same 9th grade level. And we assume that's not necessarily their level. That's TV persona.

William Shatner on Show Me the Money is certainly entertaining, however. But what about the real Bill Shatner? That's TV persona. Nevertheless, it's good whenever we find masterpiece roles for this master actor.

Actors provide the best examples for writers when deciding upon a literary persona, because a literary persona is much like a stage persona, a stage personality. Even when writers are writing autobiography, there's a persona aspect to autobiography, even though it purports to be the true self. Billie Holiday in autobiography is both Billie Holiday and persona. And so are the contemporary autobiographers. And very few are nothing less than their heroic selves.

Personas can be worthy or unworthy personas. But writers, like actors, need to make sure that "fans" can tell the different. A writer selecting an unreliable narrator does not mean the author is an unreliable narrator. Certainly many of the problems that celebrities might have in commitment is not just the fault of media, as Paul McCartney has mentioned--but much might be also the fault of persona.

When connecting to public figures are you connecting to the person or the persona? And certainly private people, like public people, can also have personas.

The problem of literary persona is a problem that writers have been dealing with for centuries. And it's a question for young writers to ponder like young actors when deciding upon roles. Is the persona worthy or unworthy of them? Should they write (or act?) on 9th grade level when their true level is postgraduate school? (Or vice versa?)

However, like the print market, you should first determine your audience.

Who are you writing for?

Are you writing for an online children's market? Are you writing for online business professionals? Are you writing for those seeking information on shopping, on education?

What type of writing are you doing? Creative writing? Business articles? General web content?

What market are you writing for? Blog? Web content provider? E-book?

These are the questions you should first ask yourself before you begin writing.

Most online writing is conversational, directed at the market that you're writing for.

Many of the paragraphs are shorter than paragraphs in the traditional market. Most make use of keywords. For example, let's say the keywords in this article are "writing" and "market" then "writing" and "market" should be in most of the paragraphs.

When people go to the search engines to search for articles on "writing" and "market" as in literary markets, then it's likely they'll find this article and/or other articles that make use of these keywords.

You should also try to find markets where you can consistently publish and sell your online writings, whether it's shvoong, Associated Content, Constant Content, Triond, and/or other online markets.

You should write consistently and try to publish consistently.

You should read and best of the online writings and learn from the best online writers.

You should edit and proofread your online writings.

You should keep an idea notebook of ideas and titles for online writings.

You should keep a research notebook to do up-to-date research on the various articles and ideas for articles.

You should continue to read, write, and learn about online writing and you should continue to research online literary markets.

Personal style helps to add flavor.

Of course, personal style must also be authentic.

What is your personality as a writer and how can this personal style help to add flavor to your writing, help to make it entertaining or interesting or readable.

Some personal styles are more personal than others.

Some styles to hear and listen to the personality of the writer. They often include first person. They give interesting details.

Other writers have a more general style. You don't learn a great deal about them personally. They have a lyrical style or a philosophical style or an intellectual style.

These are also personal styles.

The personal style can be translated into poetry, short stories, screenwriting, articles, etc.

In movies, many of the great directors like an Alfred Hitchcock have a personal style that people recognize. Almost everybody knows the Hitchcock style.

Other directors are more eclectic. They don't truly have a personal style that you notice. They make many different types of movies in many different types of styles, but you can't really tell their personal style.

Richard Price in his screenplays has a certain personal style, especially in the use of dialogue and the urban scene, where you think, even if you don't know the credits, maybe this is a Richard Price screenplay. This is personal style.

Muhammad Ali has personal style. Personal style often sets the standard. Madonna has personal style. Elvis has personal style. These personal styles often set the standard for other personal styles. Ieoh Ming Pei has personal style. Picasso has personal style. Scientists can have personal style, like an Einstein. Even Einsteinian formulas have personal style.

Personal style can be used in writing web content also. When writing web content you can notice personal style. Of course, you can write web content in many different styles. Reread your web content articles and decide if you have a personal styles and/or many different styles depending upon the types of articles. If you have personal style, what is your best personal style?

When you study any art form, think of the artist and the concept of personal style. Does personal style help to flavor the art, whether it's jewelry making, architecture, fashion, filmmaking? Think personal style when writing and revising your writing.