Are you puzzled by the publishing market? Are there times when you're mystified by the scramble of words? Maybe, you feel boxed in by your fears to step out of your comfort zone. Don't despair. Make that confusion work for you. The writing world is full of opportunities that you may never even have thought of.

        Consider this: almost everyone loves to play games. Games create sales in the mega-bucks. In fact, there's one game that's been around since 1923 that continues to gain popularity, even through the computer age. Stumped? Read on.

        Notice the magazine shelves in your local grocery store. Romance, motorcycles, crafts, architecture, and the list goes on. But there's one that seems to be everywhere; the crossword puzzle magazine. In fact, puzzles come in all sizes and types; to fit the personality, you might say. Each and every puzzle had to be created by someone. And that's where you come in.

        Did you ever wonder who makes those puzzles? Everyday, new ideas are developed to entertain the millions who love to cozy-up with a pencil and a good book to spend some time alone. You must know someone like that; Gramma? Uncle Jack? Brother? Maybe, its even you.

        Now, its your turn to entertain the masses. With a few well-placed words, you can be one of those who's in the know. And you know what? You'll even have a very impressive title; Cruciverbalist. Are you ready? Let's go.

        I like to begin with a favorite topic and choose nine words pertaining to that subject. Using graph paper, print the words, one below the other, in alphabetical order and number them down the side. Over the top of the words, number how many letters there are, using the longest word as your guide. I've chosen the beach for our theme.

        Notice that there are no spaces between word groups, such as "Beach Ball." Otherwise, the letter-count would be off. With your word-list created, its time to fill in the puzzle. Since I've decided to make this a word search, I'll start with the longest word and place it in the grid, first. This is a puzzle where any word can be read in any direction; up, down, backwards, forwards or diagonally, but always in a straight line. Just try to fill all directions equally; backwards, forwards, up, down and diagonally. I've color-coded my words so you can see what I've done.

        Now that you have filled in the grid with all of your words, you need to fill all of the unused spaces. Its fun to create messages for the spaces that are left and that's what I've done here. I had thirty-two spaces left, so I needed a message with thirty-two letters:

        To fill in your message, start at the top, left corner and write each letter in order, just as you would read a book. I've put the "Message" letters in black so they are easy to spot. Of course, you would not do this on a finished puzzle, but for creating the puzzle, it makes things a lot easier. The finished product should be in black ink, on white paper. Finally, you need to add instructions. Look in magazines for examples on how to word the instructions. Never copy, but looking at puzzles that others have made can give you some great ideas, not only for instructions, but for making more puzzles.

        When sending in this submission, my instructions would read, "Circle each letter from the words in the word list. The words can read in any direction; up, down, forwards, backwards or diagonally. When you are finished, read the unused letters from left to right, line by line."

        Your finished puzzle will include a cover letter, your puzzle skeleton and a copy of the completed puzzle. On the same page with the skeleton, be sure you have included your word list in alphabetical order and the instructions for your puzzle.

        For puzzles that include messages, I find it best to have the gamer circle each letter, individually. That way, its easier to spot the unused letters.

        Naturally, making puzzles is fun, but its even more fun when you start to sell them. There are many magazines for getting your word games published. Each magazine has its own guidelines. If you wish to learn more about creating puzzles, go to About.com: Puzzles. Here is the actual link: http://puzzles.about.com/library/markets/blxwmrkt.htm.

        Look in the magazine section of your favorite store and you'll find several markets you can start with. Dell, Penny Press and Kappa are three well-known publishers.

        Begin by requesting guidelines from several publishers. Then, be sure to follow the guidelines precisely. Puzzling can be very rewarding and fun. Caution, though; it can also be addictive.