Buzz Gnosis

A newcomer to the world of investments in the notion of “Virtual Real Estate Investing“. Everything from using the internet as an avenue to make more money in real estate to online games such as SecondLife seem to be included in the popular definition of this term.

To get the facts, I sought out the man generally considered to be the father of virtual real estate investing: Bryan Ellis.

When I began using the term virtual real estate investing in the late 1990s, I did so because I saw clear parallels between the strategies used for profiting from physical real estate and those that would create income in the online world, said Ellis.

Bryan Ellis cites the similar strategies one can employe to make money from “virtual property” and “physical property” as a primary parallel of the two markets. “These types of assets - websites and physical real estate - can be monetized in very similar ways like buy lo/sell high, leasing/rental and advertising opportunities” he says.

I must admit: Its easy to see the parallels. For example, if you’re the owner of a desirable property, its desirability is (in a business context) largely due to its being in a location that is of interest to others. Likewise, if you own a desirable domain name, others will find value in it because it serves their purposes. So it doesn’t matter if you own physical real estate or virtual real estate - you’ll likely use similar strategies to turn them into money in your pocket.

In our next installment of this series on virtual real estate investing., Bryan Ellis will share the internet analogies to the physical concept of real estate development.

Arrest | Criminal Records and Searches: attorney’s office charged Joseph Nathaniel Harris on Friday with stealing two computers and a compact disc that contained patient records from the San Jose Medical Group on March 28 according to a complaint filed in U. Most of the implications of a DUI arrest are difficult to handle for both the police and the offender. Searches for Arrest Records For Chester Sc and Macomb County Criminal Records are easy to find. The task force agreed that proposal needed further refinement before it could be voted on.

In Privacy Secrecy and Reputation Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner says that arguments for expungement are “particularly weak in the context of employment where competition exacts a heavy penalty from any firm that makes irrational employment decisions, and it is easy to find Macomb County Criminal Records or Arrest Records For Chester Sc. Public Arrest records are those at the national level which can be obtained by any private citizen without any form of government authorization either via internet or fee-based systems. The public can access these records within 24 hours and Arrest Records For Chester Sc or Macomb County Criminal Records. If you have been caught driving under the influence and your record shows a history of DUI arrests then you will be slapped with a higher sentence this time around. We guarantee your complete satisfaction with our state-of-the art search system.

Neither party denied that the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department - the only agency covered in the court decree - regularly releases information about arrests to the public. Get full results on Arrest Records For Chester Sc from the official government registry database below. If the person had a different name at one time that name should also be checked. Search for Arrest Records For Chester Sc and Macomb County Criminal Records from the the most reliable government sources. During the discovery phase - the phase your attorney and the members of the team will conduct depositions of witnesses and exchange written information with the prosecuting attorney commonly known as interrogatories. You have to know only the minimal required information on each search subject to pull the arrest and criminal records.

While no one ever plans on being arrested- it is a good idea to know what you should and shouldn’t do in case it ever happens. When arrested do not speak about anything else to anyone even the person who might be in the cell with you. Search for Arrest Records For Chester Sc or Macomb County Criminal Records from the 100% reliable government record database.

If you find that financial betting is something you are interested in, and you are being introduced to financial betting through a financial spread betting guide you will undoubtedly find that most financial betting firms are located or based in the United Kingdom. The reason for this is that out of the nearly 400,000 active betters on the financial markets nearly 90% of all betters are found in the UK. There is no real reasons why this number is so disportionate, however, there are many speculators that predict that this burgeoning market will experience tremendous growth within the next 5 to 10 years.

As with the financial markets so go the betting markets as well. It used to be, that traders in the financial had to be on the trading floor to make sure the trade that they ordered was done to their specifications. Today, traders can buy and sell from the comfort of there own homes. So is the case with financial spread betting. This activity is quickly becoming known as online financial spread betting. With the nature of the growing number of financial markets around the world, it is little wonder. It does not matter what time it is where you live, there is a good chance that somewhere in the world, there is a financial market open for business.

How long has it been since you spent the day at Sea World? The shows change periodically and you must see the latest shows.

I was treated to a very special day today at Sea World by my daughter. We had a wonderful day together. We saw all the shows and I really enjoyed them.

The show I want to talk about is the fabulous dog and cat show. There were simply dozens of dogs of all sizes and breeds. These dogs were purchased not by private breeders but at the Humane Society.

These animals that end up in the Humane Society are homeless and unwanted for whatever reason. Sometimes their owners need to move out of the state or out of their home into an apartment and they can’t take their precious dogs or cats with them.

The trainers made a statement about all of the fabulous animals in the show and asked the audience to purchase their next pet at the Humane Society.

Not only were their dogs but cats. The cats are what really blew my mind. To my astonishment these cats were trained to perform simple tricks and to follow simple directions.

I ask you have you ever heard of a cat following directions and doing simple tricks? I was completely blown away by this achievement.

The dogs and cats interacted with the trainers in various tricks that were absolutely adorable.

At the start of the show the dogs and cats were running and jumping into all kinds of props. At the enf of the show they did the same thing but with a creative variation.

If you are an animal lover this is a must see show at Sea World.

I left the best for last.

They even had a pig as part of the show and the pig literally stole the show. This pig was also trained to do simple tricks and to follow directions.

There were a smidgen of ducks and they even let loose a bunch of various birds that flew in all directions.

The adult children and the little children clapped and laughed and had a great time. At the end of the performance you were even invited to meet the animals.

All the shows at Sea World were outstanding. So if you are looking to spend a precious family day together go to Sea World.

I hope you enjoyed my article. Please feel free to read my other articles.

Copyright 2006 Linda Meckler

Linda is the author of, “Ghost Kids Trilogy,” Christy, 12 and her Brother Brad, 16 moves into an old house on top of a mountain and meet two Ghost Kids.

Become involved with all the characters and all the adventure and mystery.

Then we have a mysterious, magical Blue Vase where Uncle Charlie the villain is trapped. He wants out of the Blue Vase and exchange he will tell Christy and Brad where Pirates’ Treasure is Hidden.

Take a walk with Christy and Brad down a dark hall hunting for Pirates’ Treasure. You will think were you there right there with them. Love, Family Values and Charity burst off the pages.
Check out my website http://www.lmeckler.com
If you are bed or wheelchair confined or can’t bend to sit on a toilet you must check out on my website, “Instant Bladder Relief Urinal (IBRU)” http://www.lmeckler.com

James Bond is not only famous for his Vodka Martini, but also for his betting and winning at Roulette, James made it look simple and winning at roulette is, but you need to know the right way to bet and its not the way James did it!

James always bets on two ‘dozen’ (two columns of 12 numbers each, or a chance to win with one of his 24 numbers covered).

Does it work? Yes, but this is not the best way to bet! Its great for the movies but there are bets with better odds.

When roulette is featured in movies its always bets where the player is lucky but in reality winning at roulette involves playing the bet with the best odds - this is the only way to win at roulette which is a game of chance with no skill involved.

You simply need to pick the bets with the best odds of success ie over time these bets will win more than any other.

There are some proven facts about winning at Roulette that must be considered.

Winning at Roulette is possible, but keep in mind the following:

1. The longer you play, the better the odds favor the casino

Why? Because they always have an edge you can reduce it but you can never eliminate it in roulette, so if you played for ever - you would lose.

2. The European Roulette game is best

If you want to get on the road to winning at roulette play this wheel, not the American one.

You get better odds than the American (which has an extra double zero). For single zero European Roulette the odds favor the casino by just 2.7%. On the double zero game, the odds favor the casino by 5.26%

Improving the odds further

Some casinos offer a bet called “en prison” (in prison) that can bring the odds down to almost even and it is the best bet on the table.

How “en prison” works

This applies to even-money bets only. This means red/black, odd/even and high/low bets. If the result is a zero, the en prison rule will allow the player to either take back half the bet or leave the bet till the next roulette spin. However, if the next spin happens to be a zero, then the whole bet is lost.

Playing with the en prison rule, the odds of the casino with the ‘even-money bets’ is cut in half to just a 1.35% house edge against the player and these are pretty good odds for a pure game of chance.

If you want to have the best chance of winning at roulette then this is the bet to play. Of course it gets pretty boring playing just one bet!

So what other bets are good?

Well, the best bets are where the odds mirror the payouts i.e. betting on black or red, odd or even.

Here the chances of wining are about 45% so the odds are still respectable, although not as good as “en prison”

There are other bets but they have worse odds and if you feel lucky play them, but don’t as they do in the movies play the long shot and hope to win!

See Roulette for what it is

If you want to play to make money regularly then blackjack and poker should be your games but if you want a bit of fun and excitement nothing beats winning at roulette Roulette and it has very good odds for a game of chance, if you play the right wheel and the right bets.

Roulette is a fun game see it as just that and dont expect to win. If you do win at roulette ( and you have a good chance by following the tips in this article ) then its even more fun!

A weathervane is a historic outdoor home accessory which embellishes rooftops all over the world. There are many different kinds of weathervanes which were created many, many years ago. These weathervanes can display many different kinds of ornaments as well.

ARROW AND SCROLL WEATHERVANE ORNAMENTS- These ornaments are a basic arrow ornament, a point and fletching attached to a horizontal tube. Sometimes the term “arrow” and the term “scroll” are interchangeable. This depends on the type of fletching, whether there is a point on it and what type of point it is, how intricate the details are, and whether the design contains any actual wrought scrolls.

BANNER AND BANNERET WEATHERVANE ORNAMENTS- These ornaments are derived from medieval pennants and flags, the basic parts of this particular ornament are the points in front and a flat area in the back. Though the terms “banner” and “banneret” also seem to be interchangeable, a banner usually has an area large enough for a date or monogram to be pierced (cut out) or applied to the ornament, while a banneret has an area which might be large but is mainly decorative.

SILHOUETTE WEATHERVANE ORNAMENTS- This style ornament has also been in use for many, many years. In Europe, businesses and guilds would display their specialty using this type of vane ornament. In the old and new worlds, many farmers would carve a simple figure into a piece of wood and use this as a wind indicator on their barns. After 1900, the silhouette weathervane became very popular again, and often displayed fables, sporting events or themes.

SWELL-BODIED WEATHERVANE ORNAMENTS- This is the weathervane ornament which is most closely associated with the American weather vane makers. Molds are created from hammered copper for these ornaments. The molds are then trimmed and soldered together into a hollow form which is a few inches thick. This type of vane can also be formed freehand.

FULL-BODIED WEATHERVANE ORNAMENTS- These ornaments are a 3-dimensional representation of a particular subject.

Neisha Bjorklund is the web master for www.aweathervaneworld.com. Take a look at our large selection of rooftop and garden weathervanes!

Christmas is the time of year when we like to spend our time with our children, friends and family. At least, that is how the story goes, and for the most part it is pretty true. We forget last year’s tribulations, the traffic jams and crowded stores. We fill our cars with ever-precious gasoline and our spirits with holiday cheer, and then we head off to the mall. We do a little shopping, trying to avoid the crazies who in increasing frequency are ready to do physical battle over the fad gift of the moment.

We stand in line for what seems like forever, juggling shopping bags and restive children, waiting our chance for a few minute conference with none other than the Big Guy from the North Pole, Santa Claus. There he sits on his gilded throne, amid all the blinking lights and Christmas décor. He is assisted by his helpers, who less often these days are midgets or dwarves, posing as elves. Midgets and dwarves allegedly scare the kiddies. The scene is fully nostalgic, resplendent with your own childhood memories. Your children are so anxious to sit and tell Santa what they want for Christmas, they can barely stand it. And here, amid the fake snow and the holiday festivities, it never occurs to you that Santa Claus may be a pervert.

That’s right. Despite all good intentions, your favorite mall may have mistakenly hired a child molester, whose recent residential address may have been the state penitentiary and not the North Pole. And you think you should be concerned about your child’s fear of midgets and dwarves. The truth is, that very lap where you place your child to declare his holiday wishes may actually belong to a pedophile.

To support this claim, CBS News recently had one of its staff impersonate a convicted felon and child molester. The staff member applied in five Los Angeles malls, under the name of the actual felon. The felon was a man who was registered along with 63,000 sickos on what is commonly known as “Meagan’s List.” He was hardly a well-kept secret. And yet all five shopping malls hired the man to be their Santa Claus. Later, when confronted with the issue, one man claimed to have run a free pre-employment background check that is generally good for nothing. The others mumbled lame excuses that, when translated logically, meant they probably had not run any kind of pre-employment background check.

In other malls throughout the country, those responsible do conduct pre-employment background checks, along with drug testing. The good news is, employers like Santa Plus, of Fallon, Missouri, which screens the 500 Santas it places in 250 malls, in 46 states, do conduct background checks. However, by some accounts, 70 out of every 1000 applicants for the Santa or Santa’s helper jobs have a felony record of some sort. That is approximately seven percent of those screened. They may also be applying to the malls and services that don’t do any background checking. They may be like the staff member of CBS, who, while posing as a child molester, got hired anyway. At five different malls. In the case of CBS, their guy was an imposter, helping to work a feature story. In the other cases, they are the real thing.

I know this is terrible. But if it ended there, we could almost be grateful. . Perhaps the larger question is, who are what are you having over for the holidays? Are you not doing the same thing as the shopping malls when you are thinking of dating someone without first checking him out? I know, your new Mr. Possible seems perfectly lovely on the Internet, and he is charming on the telephone. It is the holiday season. You feel lonely. It would be nice to share the holidays with someone who shows the potential for romance. But a confidence man, a criminal, or a pedophile, has had lots of practice at disarming his pray. Winning you over is what his life is all about. Getting to your wallet; getting to your children. They are good at it.

This is not to suggest you investigate old Uncle Fred, although it’s not always a bad idea. It is to suggest, however, that if you are a single woman, especially a single parent, and you are using the singles and online dating sites, you had best run an online dating background check on your potential paramours. Not only does an online singles background check help protect you from theft of goods, confidence scams, identity theft and your own risk of physical harm, but most importantly, it helps protect your children from the kind of strangers they should never meet.

Remember, Check Him Out Before You Date Him.

Gordon Basichis is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, the Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is also the author of The Constant Travellers, a sci-fi fantasy Western. The first chapter of Basichis’ new book Spook, a Roman A’Clef detailing Chinese Espionage in the United States, is featured in a forthcoming anthology, Sleeping with Snakes, Notes from the Los Angeles Underbelly.

A professional marketing executive, Basichis is also co-founder of Corra, which as the Corra Group specializes in pre-employment and online dating background checks, as well as corporate research and investigation.

I told you a few days back that I had something very
exciting that I wanted to share with you.

Well today is the day!

A month back at an internet marketing conference I listened
to a presenter that told the story of his success online.

He told us that he started his internet marketing business
some 19 moths back with $0 and nothing to his name and now
he predictable earns over $100,000 a month!

This was amazing to me but really blew me away was that he
said that he predicted that at this time in the course of
his business online that that is exactly where he would be!

“WHAT!”

That totally blew me away.

I mean . . .

How could someone go from $0 to over $100,000 a month and
without a shadow of a doubt know that he would be at that
point in his business in that exact time frame?

Well . . .

He showed proof and then gave a few of his secrets away and
even that was mind blowing to me. I mean it was the type of
stuff that you can’t buy in books and you can’t learn unless
someone directly explains it to you.

Some of the stuff that this guy talked about was way out in
the left field compared to everything that I had learned
about internet marketing.

If I read this stuff in a book I would probably say “yeah
righ!” and brush it off.

But being the opened minded and ever experimental individual
that I try to be I went home and I applied some of the stuff
that he spoke of and . . .

It worked like crazy!

It made a believer out of me.

Well at that conference he offered a special small group
seminar where he would divulge everything that he did and
teach each member of that small seminar how to do it as well
in their own niche with their won business to produce the
same remarkably predictable results.

The price wasn’t cheap by any means so I wasn’t willing to
pull the trigger at that point, but once I got home and
applied his teachings to my daily business and saw the
results it produced I was punching myself in the stomach for
not taking him up on it.

As any good student does, I got on his mailing list to see
if I could pick up anything else from his style.

And as luck would have it he made the same exact offer to
his list of subscribers.

He said that he would take anyone with any business model
and teach them to duplicate his success.

Still the price was high so I spent the day pacing around my
house in anxious anticipation over whether or not I would do
it.

It wasn’t until later that day when I was driving around and
trying to compare the investment to other comparable
investments that I had made in my life that I made a
breakthrough in this decision.

I immediately thought about the rental property that I own
and the price I paid for it and the return on investment it
produced compared to what the estimated return on investment
would be if I made the decision to go forward.

That did it.

The return on investment for what I was going to be taught
first hand in person was more than 1000% the return on
investment that I currently receive for my real estate
holding per month.

So in June I go to take my business to the next level and
you will be coming along with me!

Everything I learn and eventually master I’m going to bring
back home to teach you.

I hope this has you as excited as it does me.

My goal has always been to help as many people (My team
always comes first . . . wink) in the network marketing
field as I possibly can and this will be a giant step in
that direction.

{!firstname} the morals of this story are:

1. Sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone to
achieve the goals you have.

2. Even the craziest ideas work out better than the status
quo, so you have to keep an open mind at all time.

3. If a person that is further along the path to success
than you currently are is willing to teach you how to
achieve your goals quicker you have to take them up on it if
your goals really are your goals no matter what the price!

Take a leap of faith.

Daegan Smith is an Expert Internet Network Marketer. “Learn
How To Make $10,717 In Less Than a Week While Quickly And
Easily EXPLODING Your Network Marketing Organization Without
EVER Buying a Single Lead?”
==> http://www.internetmlmsuccess.com
==> mailto:netmlmsuccess@aweber.com

Let this article serve as a wake up call to you. It seems that at the present moment there are many health epidemics at hand. It also seems that not many people are too concerned about it either. In case you do not know of the health crisis that you and faced with…here are some general facts of what is transpiring.

One out of two people are becoming chronically sick these days. Sixty percent of our population is either overweight or obese. Millions upon millions of other people are fatigued, burn out and stressed out to the max. Sound familiar? Keep in mind that these numbers continue to rise regardless of the advancements in technology and better living standards.

I think many people are in for a rude awakening if they do not take measures now for creating a sound holistic health plan that ensures optimum health. In fact, you can virtually eliminate all possibilities of ever becoming sick by following a few healthy habits every day.

The ironic thing that baffles me time and time again is that most of the health habits that ensure well-being are not being followed by many people in this society. It seems that work, material things and other distractions of life are more important than their health. This is a one way road to illness and a miserable life.

I see a higher emphasis being put on things like cars and BIG houses, however, when it comes to health, the same attention is not there. Shouldn’t health be the number one priority on everyone’s list? How can you live life to the fullest if you are not feeling your absolute best? You can’t!

I believe we need to have a serious change in perspective when it comes to what is truly important in life. I have found that when someone is feeling their best…this is when they feel unstoppable and can achieve almost anything in life. This is when they have creative ideas and want to create magic in their lives. How can you live life in this fashion if you are feeling lousy and miserable?

Our society has made things a little too convenient for us. People have become addicted to convenience and in doing so have deviated from nature. When you deviate from nature in this fashion, it is only a matter of time that a crisis arises, such as man creating man-made foods and supplements that your body can not recognize or absorb. Man has manipulated what nature has given and in doing so has put society at risk for poor health and illness.

Your body can not survive on sythetic compounds and food that have been genetically altered. This is ludicrous to think that man knows best. Nature knows best! Man’s ego has fooled many people into believing that they can simply alter anything they wish without ramifications. As is evident by the epidemics that society is now faced with, you can’t go long before this attitude and behavior catches up. The proof is in the pudding. Let life reveal the truth to you.

Life is revealing that the health of most of our society is very poor. If a majority of society does not wake up soon, they will be in for a rude awakening. The human body requires key compounds in order for it to function just as you car requires gas and oil to run. You wouldn’t put bleach in the gas tank of your car would you? How about some liquid tar? Why? Because those things wouldn’t allow your car to run.

However, this is the exact same thing that many people on a daily basis do to their bodies. They are ingesting compounds that are not meant to go in there. Your body is a divine creation and has done so much for you over the years. It requires your love, nurturing and the adequate fuel in the form of mother earth whole foods for it to function at peak performance.

Treat your body well and it will give you great health. Treat it poorly, well, then you have to pay the consequences. No one will make sure you are putting the right compounds in your body every day. That is your responsibility. Only you can choose to ingest foods that are health promoting. Only you can follow habits that ensure optimum health.

As I discovered on my path to healing, optimum health is a choice.

What Do You Choose?

To Your Health,

Rino Soriano

c 2006 copyright by Rino Soriano

Rino Soriano is a holistic health coach,author and President of Health Evolution International. He empowers people to be masters of their own health and well-being.

Rino had chronic fatigue syndrome and through self empowerment healed himself from this so-called mystery illness.

Rino’s message will leave you with a new perspective about your health and well-being. He is helping many people to experience the level of health they truly desire through sound holistic health regimens that get results.

For a FREE Audio Called Get Healthy. Get Energized. Get Going. Visit his website at http://www.HealthEvolutionInternational.com

How long should your chapters be?

I can’t resist… I have to say it. “How long is piece of string?”

Of course, that smart-aleck answer is of no use to you whatsoever if you’re sitting there, frozen over the keyboard, wondering where you should end Chapter One and start typing ‘Chapter Two’.

Fact: Some books have chapters that are only a page or two long. These are not necessarily short storybooks for children, either. I just plucked “Cat And Mouse”, a thriller by James Patterson, from my bookshelves. This 342-page novel has 130 chapters. Most chapters vary from just over one page to 3 pages in length - on average, 2 pages per chapter. There’s a lot of white space at the end of most chapters, too! Patterson’s chapters are actually very short scenes (or sequels to scenes).

Fact: The length of your chapters may depend on whether you’re following genre guidelines. For example, check out several category romances by Harlequin, and you’ll find that they tend to have around the same number of chapters. Educational publishers often are very prescriptive about chapter length (e.g. “These books will be approximately 3,500 words long, divided into chapters of 350-400 words”).

Fact: Some books don’t seem to have any chapters. They are divided into “Part One”, “Part Two”, “Part Three” etc and each “Part” consists of a series of scenes. You may get 100 pages and 20 scenes, with a space between each scene, but no chapters at all. Some readers find this very annoying - they like to stop reading at the end of a chapter! (Consider your own reading habits. How often do you slip a bookmark in at the end of a chapter, rather than at the end of a scene?)

Think “Scene”, Not “Chapter”

Unless you are working to a set of guidelines issued by the publisher, stop fretting about chapter length and start thinking in terms of scenes. You plan each scene to move the story forward (like scenes in a movie). You don’t finish a scene until you have achieved what you set out to do.

A chapter, however, can begin and end anywhere you like. You can break a chapter in the middle of a conversation. This is one way to get your reader turning the page instead of stopping for the night - they *have* to find out how things played out!

An example:

“I have no idea who he was,” Kane insisted. “He just came up to me in the car park and started asking questions. Thought I was someone else.”

Jasmine stared at his open, concerned face; at the complete puzzlement in his eyes. “You’d never seen him before? Not ever?”

“Never.”

Jasmine swallowed hard. He was one of the best liars she’d ever encountered. Even now that she knew his real background, she couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow she must have got it wrong. Not Kane…

“Jas?” Kane’s eyes had narrowed slightly. “What is all this?” She glanced down at his hand on her arm, numbed. If she couldn’t be just as good an actor as he was, she was in the worst trouble of her life.

CHAPTER TWO

“Jasmine?” Kane’s grip tightened.

She glanced up at him, raw fear making it easy to summon tears. “I’m really sorry. When he started raving about that girl, I thought…”

“You thought what?” Kane’s mask slipped for a fraction of a second, and a glint of ice in his gaze made her blood freeze before he covered with a familiar baffled grin. “What?”

“I thought you must have been having an…” she bit her lip, “…an affair.”

“An affair?” Back on sure ground, Kane laughed and folded her in his arms.

And so on. In this case, it was effective to put a chapter break in the middle of their scene of dialogue, because Jasmine has just realised that Kane is not what he seems and she’s in big trouble. It’s likely the reader will turn the page to see if she can get herself out of trouble.

Should Chapters All Be The Same Length?

No. Chapters can vary enormously in length. It can be very effective to have a 20-page chapter followed by one of just two pages, if you need to establish a quick bit of background or briefly show what another character is up to.

Children’s books are more likely to have chapters of similar lengths than adult novels. The length of your chapters will depend on the finished length of your book. If I’m writing an early reader of, say, 2,000 words, I’d probably aim for about 7 chapters of 300 words each. However, it might work better to do 5 chapters of 400 words. I usually write a book of this length as a short story, then go back and look for good places to break the text. One chapter could be 350 words, and the next 420 words.

If I were writing a book for older children - say, 20,000 words - then 10-15 chapters between 1500 words and 2000 words could work well.

Chapter length is not really important. What *does* count is how well you keep the reader’s attention in the current scene. Again, tap into your own reading experience. If the story has you totally absorbed, you’ll keep reading no matter what length the chapters are.

How Do You Decide Where To Put a Chapter Break?

This is easy, really. If you’re writing a short book for children, go through your story and draw a line across the page at a tense moment. Look for places where some sort of question is raised, where a decision has to be made, or action is about to happen. Obviously, readers will want to keep reading to find out what happens! You may have to rewrite the last few lines before and after a chapter break, or add a line, to make it read more smoothly.

What if you find that there are not many places where you can do this?

This is a good thing. You have probably discovered that there is not enough tension or conflict in your story. Go back and put it in. This way, you’re working out the chapter breaks and improving the pacing and plot as well.

For adult novels: if your chapter seems to be interminable, go back and look for a good place to break it. The same applies here as it did to writing a children’s book. If it all seems too ‘even’, you probably need to work on the pacing anyway.

You’ll find that after a while, you develop an instinct about where to end one chapter and begin another. Don’t forget the value of research - grab a couple of books by your favourite authors and see how they have handled this. It isn’t necessary that every chapter end with a cliff-hanger, but you should ‘write up’ to the end of a chapter - leave the reader wanting to know more.

Simple, really. End your chapter in a place that is guaranteed to have your readers asking the age-old question that keeps popular authors rich and readers buying books: “What happens next?”

(c) Copyright Marg McAlister

Marg McAlister has published magazine articles, short stories, books for children, ezines, promotional material, sales letters and web content. She has written 5 distance education courses on writing, and her online help for writers is popular all over the world. Sign up for her regular writers’ tipsheet at http://www.writing4success.com/