Do you agree with the idea that a character can be shown better in defeat than in victory? Think about the last character you wrote about. What was happening to him or her? Were they being defeated or conquering? Would it be easier to show their defeat or victory through dialogue or description? Or would you just narrate that and not leave it up to speculation?

I'd like to think people's characters can thrive in either situation. You know, that idea about good winners and poor losers. It should work both ways. Maybe it's more about the writer's own character than the character created for the page.

It's worth thinking about. How would you describe the setting differently if the character was happy, doing well and having a great victory compared to the setting of a character who was having a bad day, etc.? There would be small details like how they carry themselves, body language and tone of voice if they speak. Larger things like their reactions to other people and things that interact with them. Aggression and violence could develop for the defeated character. Whereas someone who has won would be aggressive but not in a violent or threatening way, over exuberant perhaps. Both can be intimidating for different reasons.

How much does the mood of a character influence their surroundings. You know when you are feeling angry you see things differently than when you are sad, happy, or laid back. Do you consider that aspect as you write the scene? Back to that is the glass half full or half empty.

Anyway, it's something I read in a book about fiction writing, an old book but still some interesting ideas. Yet another way to show without telling.

"Words are the most powerful drug used by mankind"- Rudyard Kipling

This comes from Bev Walton-Porter http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/1639/66904 who wrote the Freelance Writing topic at Suite101 for ages.

These days you can read Bev's writing for writers at Scribe and Quill - http://www.scribequill.com/

Anyway, though I didn't write this myself I still like the idea and think it's interesting. The more you know about yourself the better you can figure out how you work at your best.

Writer, Know Thyself Author: Bev Walton-Porter Published on: May 7, 2001

Writer, know thyself! "But how?" you may ask.

Writers vary as much as types of books vary. So, what type of writer are you? Well, that depends on what type of person you are, actually.

Some writers prefer technical work, while others gravitate toward more creative pursuits, such as poetry or fiction. All writers, regardless of their strengths and preferences, can be successful freelance writers - The trick is to find out the type of person you are and then translate it into the type of freelance writing you might be most successful at!

Some of you may already have a clue as to what types of writing you prefer most. In my case, I've done some business writing, but it's not my favorite subject. I'd rather interview authors, celebrities or sports stars. Human interest features also strike a chord with me, as well. I'll admit it - I'm an idealist (some call that being a dreamer!) and I won't apologize for that. I look at the glass as half-full most of the tiime, rather than half-empty.

On occasion, I'll meet writers who seem a lot more jaded than I am, and that's okay for them to be more serious and critical of the world. But as for me, I'd rather seek out the possibilities of the world rather than pick apart every little nook and cranny. After all, if you look close enough, you're always going to find something wrong with everything. However, even when I come across people who see the world on a different level than I do, I always learn something from the encounter even if I don't agree with the other person's point of view.

On another matter, I have met writers who swear by specialization in their writing. They adhere to writing only on education, medicine, business or technical matters. Apparently that strategy works for them. Not so for me. I'm more into diversification. I've heard "write what you know" for a million years, but that doesn't apply to my freelancing.

I believe you can write on almost any subject if you find the right sources and experts to draw your information from. I don't know a thing about heart transplants or flying a helicopter, but I've written extensive articles on both subjects.

In the course of my research, I was able to interview some pretty famous people - including the heart transplant surgeon who worked on Joe Torres of the New York Yankees. In my opinion, you are free to write about anything and everything when you're a freelancer - so why should you limit yourself? Specializing works for others, but it doesn't fit my style or personality as a writer. As the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

How well do you know yourself and how does your personality shape the kind of writer you are? Below you'll find a variety of fun and interesting personality tests that will assist you in discovering who you are. Enjoy yourself, have a blast and don't try to overanalyze this whole exercise.

Tests for the Inquiring Writer Within You:

Here are some links to tests that are fun, revealing and quite telling about the type of person you are, the things you value most, and your psychological make-up.

By analyzing your results (and be honest when you answer these questions!), you can determine what strengths you have as a person and as a writer. You can also learn how you can translate these strengths into a successful niche for your freelancing career!

Duniho's Enneagram Test

Keirsey Temperament Sorter

PTypes personality types

(Note: I removed the links because they had link rot. You can try your luck on Google or check around for the Keirsey and other personality test links at BackWash. Yes, I could have found replacement links for you but I'm getting over the flu and just want to go back to bed.)

Finally, instead of just suggesting that you take the test while I sit back and do nothing about it myself, I braved taking these tests myself. Although it's kind of scary to unveil the inner workings of oneself to a global audience, here were my test results in order of test:

*Duniho's Enneagram Test - It was a close one here - I scored nearly the same on Type Two - The Helper, and Type Five - The Synthesizer.

*Keirsey Temperament Sorter - Idealist

*Myers-Briggs - ENFP - The Champion

*PTypes- The Vigilant - The Journalist

Now it's YOUR turn to share what your results were! If you're brave enough, send me a rundown of what your test results were and I'll compare all answers to see if there's a strong similarity of types of writers, in general.

Will most of the respondents be Fives, Sevens, Twos, or Ones? How about the frequency of ENTPs, INFJs, or ENFPs? No names will be used - the only thing I'll post will be how many responses I received and what percentage of "types" I received based on responses.

Weblogrrl writes- On Keeping A Writer's Journal http://www.backwash.com/content.php?jouid=7993

Typing on a borrowed computer, no spellcheck or word count, no thesaurus and no saved files for updating the newsletter. Worst of all, the space bar is temperamental. I miss my computer but I will have it back soon. Just trying to sort out the car and job stuff.

How addicted are you to your computer and the information you have stored in it? Could you go without for a day, two days, a week? What would you miss most? Which are the really important files that you can't do without? What about other things like that desktop wallpaper you saved from that really neat website?

All kind of things you rely on your computer for. So, wouldn't this be a good time to back it up. At least make copies of information you don't have a back up for. What are you doing tonight that you couldn't put off to take the time to back up your files? Won't you wish you had when it's too late?

This message brought to you by the Society for Missing All Data, SMAD for short.

• This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it? It looks so plain you would think nothing was wrong with it! In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is unusual though. Study it, and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out! Try to do so without any coaching!

The letter "e", which is the most common letter in the English language, does not appear once in the long paragraph.

• Check out the On Writer's, Writing and Books Community for more information about the ScribbleFest starting on February 3rd.

http://www.backwash.com/community_content.php?id=9

• There's a new columnist at BackWash that I'm looking forward to reading. She's from Australia and is a "Writer, Blogger, Artist, Online Junkie". Her login is Webblogrrl and the column is called Creative WeBloGrrl in Motion. Here's a link to her.

http://www.backwash.com/content.php?id=366

• Kareem wrote a column about words and word usage. http://www.backwash.com/content.php?jouid=7944

The best quotes are those that dazzle and enlighten with one sentence. That quick one two punch that leaves you thinking. Quotes wandering along into two, three or more sentences loose their power. You have to read them and think as you're reading. It spoils the effect.

Condensing your sentences, your whole essay, story, whatever you're working on, will also give it more power. Short sentences get noticed. Long winding sentences wandering around to make their point tend to blend into the wood work and take longer to be absorbed. See the difference?

When you're writing an article draw the reader in using content and focus. Content being the subject. Focus is making the subject clear and important or interesting enough to be read. You can get someone to read about bug spray if you write it right. Tell them something new. Don't muddle the idea. Use short sentences like a trail of bread crumbs. Keep your wordage uncomplicated too. Don't load them down with dictionary words they'll have to stop and think about.

Later, when they're into your subject and you've given them questions they want answered, you can bring on the longer sentences and the more detailed information. First the focus and then the heavy duty content. At the end you give them closure of some kind.

Not so different from a quote. Think about that next time you're writing. What was the last really great quote you read and why did you like it? Maybe your eye was drawn to it because it was one simple sentence. Possibly one word had some personal appeal to you or perked your curiousity, so you read it. When you rewrite see if you can shorten a few sentences, yank their chains and make them stand up and take notice. Check for extra words just hanging around not adding to the focus or the content. If you want to be read think about what gets read.

HippieGrrl is keeping a quotations journal in the Modern Bohemia community. Go take a look and send her your favourites. http://www.backwash.com/community_content.php?id=48

This quote came from a website: "Not a single word or idea is too good to be deleted, changed, or improved." Abby Goldsmith. You can find her site in my current BW column.

Someone is calling your name. He's tall and strong and lively. He wears a suit by day and comfortable overalls by night. His hair is dark and curly and his eyes sparkle as he laughs. He's calling your name but you can't quite hear him. He's just too far away.

Someday you'll find him. He's been looking for you just as you've been looking for him. He'd love to find you, to reach out and touch you. He wants to wrap you in his life and hold you there forever. He's longing for the day you will finally hear him calling your name.

Somewhere along the path you're taking is the path he's taking. The two of you will bump into each other. You'll look up, see him and smile. He'll call you once more just to see if you'll answer. When you do the two of you will walk that path together.

Sometimes his voice seems faint, maybe it gets carried away in the wind. There are days when you think you won't ever find him and he thinks the same way too. But, as long as he's out there, still calling, you'll know you have to keep listening, looking and walking in his direction. It's only fair for you to keep listening while he's still calling.

Some things will block out his voice and step in the way of your path. Just get around them or ease them aside. Make your life good and full but don't put time into petty things that will just take up your time. Don't look back. Keep walking, keep listening for him calling and you'll get there, one day at a time.

Someone is calling your name, can you hear him yet?

I wrote this for the ScribbeFest which starts February 3rd at BackWash. But, I didn't like it enough to leave it up for the Fest. So, here it is. I thought someone should read it, besides me.