TheRightWriter Creative Stuff

Make a Living as a Writer

2012-02-22T20:22:00.001-08:00

Making a living as a writer is more accessible now than ever. By dint of education and effort, you, too, can become a copywriter, a journalist, or an author. Here are a few tips to make the journey toward writing as a profession more swift and fulfilling.

Educate yourself in niche markets where good writing is in demand. Healthcare, sports, financial, computer tech and politics come to mind. But, there are many other topics for which you can become an expert that will make you money. Just be sure that they are not inundated with competitors that underbid your paycheck.
Get to know your editors. Some editors want to assign a topic and walk away. The better you perform on your own the more willing they are to hire you, again. But, certain editors adore writing by committee. Avoid them like the plague. You will be forced to revise until your fingers bleed and your keyboard breaks…not a wealth building strategy for any writer.
Build an authorial fingerprint. Set up a simple but compelling website and/or get articles in local publications. The more samples you have to show prospects the greater your chances of getting hired. Nothing convinces a possible client of your talent than seeing past work in print.
Use humility as your starting point. It’s much easier to work into high paying jobs if you already have a reputation as an easy-to-work-with writer that is both bright and open to suggestions. Accepting a lower paying gig often leads to higher paying jobs through editorial referrals. As your reputation grows, so will your earnings.
Remember that you are selling an article, not your knowledge. Although editors often buy “all rights,” they can’t buy information gleaned from days of research. Research once then concept a dozen times. This will bring you a plethora of work assignments engendered from one research investment.

There are many other writing tips that can help you excel on the Internet. Get aggressive. Read up on what works and what doesn’t. Your writing opportunities will increase and your professional credits will thrive, right along with your bank account!

Analyse Your Audience by David Farland, Part II

2012-02-20T12:53:00.000-08:00

Characters
Well, given this list of most popular books of all time, take a look at the characters. What is the age and sex of each protagonist? Ninety percent of these novels seem to be aimed primarily at men. Why is that? Don’t women read? Of course not. (I’ll have a long section on why this historical bias exists later.)
Does the book have more than one major protagonist (usually defined by viewpoint character)?
Does the age of the protagonist change throughout the book? For example, in Harry Potter we first meet young Harry shortly after birth, but most of the book takes place later in life.
Beyond age and sex, you might study the characters closely. What is their social status? What about their physical appearances? What kinds of personality traits do they have in common?
Conflicts
After you study the characters, move on to conflicts. I like to take each major character in turn and study each of his or her conflicts. I label them as primary, secondary, tertiary, and so on.
So the next question is a bit tougher. How important to the reader will that conflict be? For example, when A Tale of Two Cities was written, the entire world was still reeling from the after-effects of the French Revolution. British nobility – indeed leaders around the entire world – were afraid of losing their heads, so they began to vie to for the title of "most virtuous leader alive today." Nobles began giving money to charity and making sure the press was present to see them do it, and so on. The reform movement swept across the oceans to America, where in the 1830s - 1850s tens of thousands of Christian Communes rose up. (I'll bet that you thought communes were a modern thing, something that happened just during the 1970s, but they go back thousands of years, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them rise up again in the coming year or two.) So the global reform movement swept throughout Europe and Russia, and thus we can see that for a reader in the mid-1800s, this kind of novel struck the reader deeply. In short, it carried information vital to the reader's survival.
We can see that trend throughout the list. Is Lord of the Rings really just escapism? I don't think so. As a teenager I clearly believed that the ring of power was a metaphor for the nuclear bomb. Tolkien denies it, but the bulk of the novel was written in the post-war era after WWII. If nothing else, I found myself identifying strongly with the inconsequential hobbits who were trying to rid the world of an item that could destroy the planet.
How important is it to you to know how the mob works today? When The Godfather came out, most people were totally ignorant at how powerful organized crime was. Today we're better educated, but I think that most people would be shocked at just how corrupt politics has become.
So study the conflicts.
One screenwriting doctor claims that in every great story, there is a question about the character's identity at its heart. Who am I? Who do others think that I am? This might seem like a tertiary conflict in many of these stories, but I think you'll find that it is a common thread.
In short, pay attention to even the smallest conflicts in the tale.
Very often, a powerful novel doesn't just challenge the protagonist's identity, it challenges the reader's identity, too.
Emotional Beats
In order to sell to any audience, you need to understand what drives that audience. A child may be looking for stories of wonder, tales that have comforting endings. A teen will be more likely to be looking for romance. An older male might be interested in figuring out how to best take care of his family, and so tales that have a strong tie to obtaining wealth become attractive, while older women in particular are interested in stories about belonging.
I worked with a green-lighting company in Hollywood that used to study how the emotional beats generated in an advertising campaign would translate into filled seats at the box office. Depending upon the age and sex of the viewer, we could tell what they wanted to see.
So we broke those emotional beats down into certain categories: mystery, drama, romance, adventure, wonder, horror, humor, and lust.
Using this system, we could look at a commercial and say: okay, your primary audience is teen girls. We know that 92% of that audience will be driven to the theater to view a movie that has romance in it, while 89% are looking for comedy. If the movie hits those emotions, then it will have a large potential audience. On the other hand, what if it hits the wrong emotional markers for the audience? Teenage girls don't generally look for drama; they get enough of it in their lives. Nor do they respond well to pornography. So what if you give them a movie that deals with things that the audience doesn't like? Well, you will probably drive viewers away. Instead of appealing to 90% of your audience, if you make a pornographic movie for girls you'll be advertising to less than five percent of them. So your sales will drop dramatically.
Themes
Emotional markers are big in Hollywood, but the list of markers isn't as helpful as it could be. There are commonalities in stories that go beyond the emotional tags, and I'm going to label them as "themes."
I've noticed that tales about character growth tend to be more satisfying than those that are not. So I add that into my mix of things to look for.
Similarly, many readers respond well to novels about friendship – gaining and keeping friends. If you look at the "top television shows of all time" you'll see that many of them – shows like "Cheers," "M.A.S.H.," "Seinfeld," "I Love Lucy," "Happy Days," and so on all revolved around a small cluster of friends and cohorts.
As I mentioned above, as a man I've noticed that tales about "making it rich" are attractive to me. Interestingly, before I got married I was far more interested in romance – how to find and wed the right girl. Now my fantasies tend to revolve around "How am I going to support my family – not just for the rest of my life, but even after I die?"
So look at the bestselling novels of all time. How many of them deal with themes appropriate to their audience?
Miscellaneous
Look at the books above and ask yourself what length has to do with becoming a bestseller. I suspect that when Lord of the Rings came out, it was perhaps the longest fantasy novel ever published. But most of the books on the list above are big, honking novels of a quarter of a million words or more. Most of them are among the longest books of their kind.
Why is that? Orson Scott Card has pointed out that when you write a novel of transport – one that takes the reader into another time, place, or culture – it naturally takes longer to tell the story.
But I think that there is more to it. I think that a longer novel invites greater depth. It allows the author to put more characters into deeper conflict, bringing in wider themes, weaving a tapestry that becomes more engrossing to the readers than a shorter work can produce.
Beyond novel length, look at things like: length of chapter and length of scene.
You could easily go into the mechanics of a bestseller. How much dialogue does the author use compared to, say, narration?
Is the book written in first person, second, third? How deeply does the author penetrate into the character's viewpoint?
You might even get down to smaller elements. In bestselling novels, there is a tendency for authors to dwell upon things such as: what it's like to eat at a restaurant that only the very wealthy can afford. You might study things such as: how does the author handle a dining scene?
Summary
I'd like you to become a student of what sells, and I think that the only way to do it is to do as I have suggested here: create a list of the bestsellers in your genre and medium then begin to study the commonalities.
As you do this, you'll gain a tremendous advantage over not just the new authors that you meet but even some authors who are widely published. I know dozens of authors who've never given an hour's thought to audience analysis – even authors who have written 30 novels or more.
Some authors have an inner sense of style that allows them to naturally drift toward writing for a wide audience. But most of us have to work a little harder to get a grip on such things.

Live your Writing Dreams

2012-02-17T15:37:00.000-08:00

I grew up in a family of practical pragmatic people. If they couldn’t see it, smell it, feel it, taste it or hear it, it didn’t exist. Imagination was useful only as a hobby. Whatever you received came only by working hard with your two hands. No Fairy Godmothers welcome!

Now, there’s nothing wrong with this philosophy. It works for many people and is a good way to live, especially when taking care of a family and dealing with practical things, like bills. But, it doesn’t grant much room for the development of poets or writers or dreamers.

And, they need to live, too.

I learned through hard experience that those with creative minds die when exposed only to harsh pragmatic reality. If a rose were planted in a desert next to a cactus, the cactus would thrive because its needs were being met, while the rose would die because its needs were not being met.

My point? Feed your inner artist by living your writing dreams.

This doesn’t mean you should throw away your car keys, pull on a backpack and head away from civilization, with only a journal and a pen. It means you should think about your writing goals and imagine yourself living them, now. What would it be like to sit at an author’s signing table and sign hard copies of your latest published novel? How would it feel to be called up to receive a writing award in front of your peers? Could ideas and words flow through you and onto the page, with ease and grace?

Opening your mind to these ideas is a great way to open your heart to living a more creative life. Put aside your pragmatic doubts. Live your writing dreams mentally and, eventually, you will live them in the clear light of day.

Analyze your Audience, Part I - by David Farland

2012-02-15T18:00:00.000-08:00

From David Farland’s wonderful Daily Kick in the Pants Newsletter
Analyzing Your Novel's Audience:

I’m going to encourage you to learn to do your own audience analysis. Why? Because if you do, you might well begin to see things that others have missed.
Here is a list of the 20 bestselling novels of all time. The information comes from Wikipedia, is dated just a bit, and the list is obviously wrong. It shows Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows high on the list but doesn't show the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone anywhere at all. Since the first books in a series will always outpace the last books in sales (because there is always some falloff), it is obvious that we've got a problem.
Furthermore, sales of the Harry Potter books hit over 400 million for the series as a whole a couple of years ago in July. With seven books in the series, that means we have average sales of near 60 million copies, not the 44 million that was listed as the top sales figure here. In short, all seven books in the series should be on this list, not just the last book, and the numbers should range higher. But I’m not going to correct this list, because the truth is that I want to talk about more than just Harry Potter. Oh, and Twilight should be on here, too.
Title Author
A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens
The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien
And Then There Were None Agatha Christie
The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien
She H. Rider Haggard
The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
The Alchemist Paulo Coelho
The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown
The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco
Harry Potter / Deathly Hallows J.K. Rowling
Jonathon Livingston Seagull Richard Bach
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
Valley of the Dolls Jacqueline Susann
Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell
One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez
The Godfather Mario Puzo
Jaws Peter Benchley
Shōgun James Clavell
The Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett
Perfume Patrick Süskind
The Horse Whisperer Nicholas Evans
Now, given this list, I look for patterns in order to determine the elements that make a bestseller.
Settings
Let's start with the settings. How many of the books distance the reader from current time and space?
You'll notice that the first book on our list takes place six decades before the readers of the 1860s were around. Most of the readers wouldn't have been alive. It would be like me writing about JFK. Also, the book is set in two countries – England and France. In other words, no matter where you were living, the book offered some escape from the contemporary setting.
As you scroll through the list, you'll notice that about 35% of the novels are set in complete fantasy worlds. Most of the rest had historical ties. In each case where the novel doesn't distance the reader from the modern world, most of the novels take you someplace that you would like to go – a seaside resort, an island retreat, and so on.
So offering your reader escape seems to be something that most bestsellers have in common both in books and in movies. In Writing the Blockbuster Novel, Zuckerman says you should look to set your tale in places where the reader might want to go – exotic destinations like New York, Bombay, and London abound.
But what if you don't want to set your book in one of those places? That's all right, too. You can still entice your reader into your setting. For example, if I were setting a novel in Rigby, Idaho I might consider talking about the things that make Rigby one of the great destinations in the world – clear sunny skies, neighbors with high values, wild elk bedding down on the banks of the Snake River, and so on.
This is a key even in my genre of fantasy. Tolkien sold a lot of books, but one of the real reasons why is that Middle Earth is a great place to be. The Shire with its gentle Hobbits, its bounteous gardens and its innocence is a great place to go if you want to get away from real-world stress.
Beyond just the initial setting though, there are other questions to study. For example, does the setting move about? Or does the novel span dozens or even thousands of years? It's an easy thing for an author to talk about how glacial ice sculpted a present-day valley, or to throw in a story told by a grandmother to help set a scene. All of these techniques can expand the world that you're creating.

(Look for Part II Monday)

Love of the Craft

2012-02-13T13:10:00.000-08:00

With Valentines Day less than 24-hours away, love of the craft seems an obvious topic. Why do we love writing? Is it the mystique, the clarification, appreciation of the act of penning our inner most thoughts?

Too often we allow the pragmatic side of writing to infuse our minds, forgetting that writing is a delight because it opens us up to childlike truth and wonder. One of the great gifts of learning how to read and write is the act of writing, itself.

On Valentines Day, a day for celebrating love in all its glory, love the craft of writing. Count the many gifts it brings into your life, with deep gratitude. And, let the love of writing inspire an affectionate note, a thoughtful card, an appreciative or supportive word. Never forget to write what you love and love what you write!

"If You Want to Write" by Brenda Euland

2012-02-10T17:53:00.000-08:00

Brenda Euland, personal friend of Irving Stone, was a creative writing teacher for over 70 years. She loved the art and craft of writing. But, especially, she loved to guide writers into avenues of honesty, where real feelings rose above superficial phraseology.

“I have read all of Chekhov, now. He is so great, and his letters and his life and what people remember of him are even greater. Yet, it is consoling that if he did not know all about cruelty, gluttony, cowardice, and coldness in himself, he could not have written about them. Great men feel and know everything that mean men feel, even more clearly, but they seem to have made some kind of an ascension, and these evil feelings, though they still understand them sympathetically, no longer exert any power over them.

“Gradually, by writing, you will learn more and more to be free, to say all you think; and at the same time you will learn never to lie to yourself, never to pretend and attitudinize. But only by writing and by long, patient, serious work will you find your true self.

“And, why find it? Because it is, I think, the immortal soul and the life of the Spirit…”

I agree with Brenda Euland. The greatest power on earth is the Spirit. Connecting with yours influences and empowers, especially when you open your heart to embrace it. The light it sheds upon our inner creative worlds is as brilliant as the sunlight that rises and sets on our planet. We have power to know ourselves, truly, completely. Such honesty honors the soul as much as creativity drives it.

Write truly. Write powerfully. Write from the core of your heart with a goal to say what you know needs to be said. Only then will your efforts make life more pure, more strong. Only then shall your talent, regardless of what critics may say, make this world a better place.

What Makes a Million Dollar Best Seller by David Farland

2012-02-08T13:33:00.000-08:00

From David's Daily Kick:

Many times when a writer starts to write his or her first book or screenplay, it is because the seed of an idea takes root in his or her head and the author feels that it must come out. This is the author’s primary motivation to write. That's not a bad way to write, but unfortunately in many cases the new author will pen something that feels terribly important and profound to him or her, while the rest of the world might not respond at all. That's because so many new authors write as a type of therapy.

The new author, after two or three sales, will often find him or herself sliding back down on the sales charts, and only then will begin to wonder what it is that the rest of the world would like to see in a story. The answer to that question of course changes from reader to reader. But if you're looking to sell big, you need to do some research into what audiences like.

This is something that writers need to do for almost every story. My research process requires me to look not just at book sales, but also at popular movies and television shows—to try to get a snapshot of our culture as a whole. The reason for this is quite simple. If I write a book, there are a limited number of readers for it. For example, it has been estimated that in my own field, fantasy, there are only about two or three million regular readers out there. I can catch some of those people as they wander past my books, but if I want to go really big—say Harry Potter big—I need to do better than that. I need to create a sensation. I need to get enough publicity on morning television and radio shows so that it drives readers into the bookstore—the way that Rowling, Paolini, Meyer, and Suzanne Collins have recently have done.

In order to appeal to that wider audience, I look at several mediums and try to take some clues from them.

For example, let's take film. In order for a movie to gross $100 million at the box office, it has to draw a viewership of about 16 million people—which is much larger than the number of hardcover sales made by almost any novel. So, what can I learn from movie tastes? A few years ago I read a book on screenwriting. In it, the instructor listed the top 50 bestselling movies of all time and asked that readers look for similarities. When I reached the end of the list, the author announced that there were NO similarities. But I had found three things that they all had in common. The list changes each year, but my points will still hold true. In fact, I’ve even found a few more similarities.

Here is the current list (as of 2/2012):

1 Avatar Fox $2,782.3 $760.5 27.3% $2,021.8 72.7% 2009^

2 Titanic Par. $1,843.2 $600.8 32.6% $1,242.4 67.4% 1997^

3 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 WB $1,328.1 $381.0 28.7% $947.1 71.3% 2011

4 Transformers: Dark of the Moon P/DW $1,123.7 $352.4 31.4% $771.4 68.6% 2011

5 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King NL $1,119.9 $377.8 33.7% $742.1 66.3% 2003^

6 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest BV $1,066.2 $423.3 39.7% $642.9 60.3% 2006

7 Toy Story 3 BV $1,063.2 $415.0 39.0% $648.2 61.0% 2010

8 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides BV $1,043.9 $241.1 23.1% $802.8 76.9% 2011

9 Alice in Wonderland (2010) BV $1,024.3 $334.2 32.6% $690.1 67.4% 2010

10 The Dark Knight WB $1,001.9 $533.3 53.2% $468.6 46.8% 2008

Last update: Feb 2012 (For the purposes of this blog, the list has been edited to only the top ten. See David Farland’s website and sign-up for the Daily Kick for more information).

So what do these films have in common? Here are a few things:

Movies set in another time and or another place: 98%.

This tells us that movies that take us away from the real world and transport us into an alternate reality are far more popular than those set within a contemporary setting.

Movies with wide audience potential (Male&Female): 100%.

Most of these movies have strong protagonists of both sexes and of various ages. Thus they draw in a much wider audience than, say, a teen chick flick. However, the main story focus is almost always on a relatively young male—anywhere from a child to a man in his early twenties. I hate that statistic, but I can’t ignore it.

Movies with high emotional Richter-scale values: 100%.

The movies here tend to tug on the heart-strings. Very often they achieve this by placing an entire "world" in jeopardy. But sometimes, as in Home Alone or Forrest Gump, the movie focuses on one very likable protagonist—then puts him or her through hell.

Movies with heroic main plot: 98%.

Almost every movie on the list focuses on someone who is trying to save others.

Fantasy or SF: 94%.

Since I write fantasy I'd like to point out that fantasy movies have been topping the bestseller lists for decades. It's time that the studios take notice!

Alternate World: 80%.

Most of these movies that have done well have been set in an alternate world, not in our world.

So, as a writer, what can you learn from these points? Well, if you're trying to write a bestseller, this information might be something of a treasure map, pointing you in some likely directions. A real analysis of bestsellers will need to take us much deeper—into not just noticing what works, but understanding why it works, and how the studios “make it work.”

Go to Dave Wolverton's homepage and sign-up for his Daily Kick, written under his pseudonym David Farland.

Great First Lines

2012-02-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

Nothing hooks a reader like a great first line. Here are a few examples of first lines that made books must-reads.

My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. Lovely Bones/Alice Sebold

“Let her hang until she’s dead!” “Take her out and hang her now! I’ll do it myself!” Bam! Bam! Bam! Judge Otis L. Warren wielded his gavel with such fury I thought he might smash a hole in the top of his bench. Trial/James Patterson

One cannot raise walls against what has been forgotten. The citadel of the Ishuäl succumbed during the height of the Apocalypse. But, no army of inhuman Sranc had scaled its ramparts. No furnace-hearted dragon had pulled down its mighty gates…no one, not even the No-God, could besiege a secret. The Darkness that Comes Before/R. Scott Bakker

On the night that I was born, my paternal grandfather, Josef Tock, made ten predictions that shaped my life. Then he died in the very minute that my mother gave birth to me. Life Expectancy/Dean Koontz

Mr. Dunworthy opened the door to the laboratory and his spectacles promptly steamed up. “Am I too late?” he said, yanking them off and squinting at Mary. “Shut the door,” she said. “I can’t hear you over the sound of those ghastly carols.” The Doomsday Book/Connie Willis

It’s easy to see, when reading great first lines, why a reader becomes hooked. After your manuscript is concepted and written, polish your first line. Like a handshake, it will invite the reader into your world and send them to the cash register, novel in hand.

Overcoming Writers Block

2012-02-03T14:13:00.001-08:00

When words won’t come, when your muse feels as dried and dead as old pencil lead, there’s one sure way to reconnect with your creative side. Close your eyes and recall your favorite childhood activity. I had many. From watching the Alpenrose Dairy fireworks to making mud dams to weaving buttercup chains to sneaking through the fence to play golf on the local course, I lost myself in the moment, as a child.

If you’re a parent, sit for five minutes watching your children play. If you’re not a parent, spend a moment or two at a park. Kids don’t pretend anything. They live in a world so real that our adult vision fades to pale shadows by comparison.

Brenda Euland said, “…working is not grinding but a wonderful thing to do; that creative power is in all of you, if you give it just a little time…if you do not keep it out by hurrying and feeling guilty in those times when you should be lazy and happy.”

When your inner child becomes dormant, when the pen, pencil or keyboard grows mute, step back into a sweet childhood memory. Easily, gracefully, your inner poet will resurrect, eloquent and alive with a creativity that springs from the marrow of your bones and touches each reader with invisible fire.

Writing your way to Health and Fitness

2012-02-01T22:10:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, the American Medical Association published a study that confirmed a connection between the healing of certain common illnesses and the written word. When patients wrote about painful life stories, it opened their hearts to replace that inner pain with peace.

This caused illnesses like asthma and arthritis to heal, measurably, often within two weeks. How can this affect you and your writing?

A healthy body replaces unhealthy cells with healthy cells, on a regular basis. A healthy mind replaces unhealthy thoughts with healthy thoughts, on a regular basis.

The more often we write about what matters to us, without reference to the opinions of others or the judgment of the world, the more clearly we feel our core values, and this is very healing.

Take a moment, today, and write about something that caused you discomfort, not to relive it, but to understand it. This kind of charitable clarity not only defines your boundaries but strengthens your self-knowledge.

You have so much to share. Start by sharing your writing with yourself, and an awesome wholeness may follow!

Parts to a Story from The Daily Kick

2012-01-30T12:07:00.000-08:00

David Farland's Daily Kick e-newsletter had such a great message on how to develop the parts of a story that I'm including it here. In fact, The Kick may be included once a week for your creative delectation.

The Inciting Incident
As you begin writing a story, you have to introduce your setting and characters right away. In fact, my mentor Algis Budrys used to say that if you didn’t get them at least partly introduced in two pages, he’d throw your story into the round file. He figured that you were taking too long. For me, depending upon your style and tone, I might give you a little more time, but his sense of pacing is pretty spot-on.
As you introduce your setting and character, you might even give us the main conflict right out the gate, or introduce the theme. You don’t have to. You might use minor conflicts as a stepping stone as you build up toward that main conflict. For example, let’s say that you have a character who hears a sound in his house at night. He reaches over to wake his wife, but she’s gone. He gets up, afraid of an intruder, and grabs a baseball bat that he keeps by his bed. He creeps into the living room and spots an intruder in the dark, then chases the intruder from the house. As he does so, he trips over something—the body of his wife. She’s bloody, battered—and dead. In a blind panic he flips on the light and calls 911. He rushed outside with his bat, looking for the intruder in the darkness. It is not until the police arrive that he looks at his bat—and sees that it, too, is bloody. He’s holding the murder weapon!
So here is a story where my character faces several conflicts right in a row—strange sounds, an intruder, his wife’s murder—all before he discovers that he has been framed, and is now facing the fight of his life, which will be to defend himself.
Sometime within the first 10% of a story, normally, you reach a point where the audience learns about the main conflict—the biggest thing that your character is likely to face. Even for a short story, the rule is that “this should be the most important conflict that this character will ever face in his or her life.” That moment when the audience learns about the conflict is a turning point. From that point on, whatever other course in life your character was following, his path will change for good.
The First Try/Fail Cycle
A Try/Fail cycle occurs when a character struggles to overcome some opposition. It might be a very minor attempt, or it might be huge. In the first try/fail cycle, the character usually begins to grasp the enormity of the situation. He learns what he is up against. So, for example, one early try/fail cycle often involves diplomacy.
Your protagonist just got handed a pink-slip, and security escorts him from his office where he works at the New York Stock Exchange. Astonished, he calls his boss. He apologizes for slacking off this last week, and points out that with his wife’s cancer, he hasn’t been too focused. He begs for another chance. That’s when the bombshells start hitting. The boss refuses to tell him why he is being fired, but lets him know that it isn’t for “lack of performance.” He says, “There’s a criminal investigation. The SEC is involved, and the FBI. I can’t talk anymore about it.” The protagonist pleads innocence, begs for his job. “But, I haven’t stolen anything. I haven’t broken any rules!” The boss comes back, “I’m sorry. I can’t talk to you. Go find another career, if you can. You have no future in this one. You may not have a future at all. . . .”
Normally, a first try/fail cycle will take up about 10% of your story.
The Second Try/Fail Cycle
As your character grapples with his problem, he must find that it is larger than he first imagined. We’ll talk later about ways to expand upon problems, make them bigger than they first appear, but let it suffice to say that your protagonist must now try to resolve his problem. He does some legwork. He meets his old secretary at a cheap restaurant. He discovers that someone else in the office has been bad-mouthing him. A man named Moses Siregar seems to be behind the firing. So your protagonist does a little digging. Moses worked with him on a major account, one for an oil company. The company has been accused of rigging bids for rights for offshore oil reserves, and it looks like Moses is somehow trying to place the blame on our protagonist. This is the big SEC violation. So our character breaks into Moses’s home and tries to steal files from Moses’s computer, hoping to exonerate himself. But just as he is downloading the information, a stranger breaks into the home and tries to kill the protagonist. It soon becomes apparent that the man isn’t just a burglar—he’s some sort of assassin. Our protagonist is thrown out a four-story window—and has his fall slowed by an awning. Limping and wounded, he flees into the night.
In an adventure novel, the protagonist might go through several more try/fail cycles, each time getting closer to his goal, confronting different enemies, perhaps learning new revelations.
However, you should note that a second try/fail cycle is all that is absolutely needed. It often takes up about 30% of your tale.
The Climax
At the climax to a story, the hero must marshal all of his resources to resolve the major conflict. In doing so, he might call upon his courage, test his intellectual resources to the limit, and endure physical or emotional torment.
Those resources will almost always include the help of close friends. In our case, our hero might call upon his girlfriend for help, his old secretary, a mentor, investors that he has served well in the past, and so on.
During the climax, the hero will most likely come face-to-face with his problem. In our story above, he will discover who is framing him—and he’ll learn what he is being framed for, and how. He’ll try to figure out how to prove his innocence and reclaim his life. But not all problems have external sources. His problem might be an internal one—say a character flaw. Or he might be confronting society.
The climax is typically the most emotionally charged part of the story.
Very often, the climax will have one or more “reversals” in it, a scene where one party seems to have the upper hand, yet the other party suddenly gains it. Reversals don’t have to happen just in the climax, they can easily happen in any scene, but they're so integral to a good climax that I’m tempted to list the reversal as a “part” of the story, a necessary element. Yet some fine stories don’t have reversals to them at all. So they aren’t really necessary.
In the climax, the main problem in your story is resolved one way or another. Either the hero wins the day, or loses his conflict.
The climax to your story is something that you build up to. The protagonist often must gather clues and allies, confront inner demons, consider the themes of the piece, prepare a battle plan, and then confront the enemy. It often takes up more than 40% of a novel or movie to get through a climax.
The Denouement
The denouement of your story is everything that happens in the end. It assures the audience that the end that you’ve reached really is the end. If the villain is killed, a coroner will ensure us that he is dead. If my protagonist falls in love with his secretary, we might see him propose to her. If he clears his name, newspaper reporters might be shouting for details. If he has learned a great lesson in life, the lesson is reinforced—even voiced.
In short, the purpose of a denouement is to reinforce the ending. It can sometimes have interesting twists, unexpected revelations, and so on, but doesn’t need to do so.
Since evincing certain key emotions is important, an author often spends a great deal of time trying to hit an emotional high, give the payoff for the tale. For example, if you’re writing a heart-warming tale, you might look for opportunities to make your reader cry in the end. If you’re trying to evince wonder, then a wondrous conclusion is called for.
Normally, the denouement takes about 10% of the total length of your story.

The Poet Within

2012-01-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

Poetry acts upon the creative soul like fire touched to tinder. The elegant phrases inspired by genius can make the dry places of the heart burn with brilliant thoughts or startling concepts. Read the following excerpts, then write, without conscious thought, whatever comes to mind. It may surprise you what gorgeous script flows from your pen onto the page.

No man is an island, entire of itself;

Each man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;

If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,

As well as if a promontory were,

As well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were.

Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved with mankind;

And, therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls;

It tolls for thee.

John Donne

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or, bends with the remover to remove:

Oh, no! It is an ever-fixed mark,

That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.

Shakespeare

I think continually of those who were truly great.

Who, from the womb, remembered the soul’s history

Through corridors of light, where the hours are suns,

Endless and singing. Whose lovely ambition

Was that their lips, still touched with fire,

Should tell of the Spirit, clothed from head to foot in song…

Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields,

See how these names are fêted by the waving grass…

The names of those who in their lives fought for life,

Who wore at their hearts the fire’s center.

Born of the sun, they traveled a short while toward the sun

And left the vivid air signed with their honour.

Stephen Spender

The poet within each writer feeds on inspired words from glorious literary lights like Byron, Keats, Shelley, Browning, Burns, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Tennyson. Nourish your heart with their lyrical wisdom and your writing will abound with beauty and meaning.

Start to Write

2012-01-25T14:08:00.000-08:00

There are so many genres and sub-genres in the writing field, today, that it can be confusing. Follow the headings of Science Fiction to Fantasy to Horror to Romance to Suspense to Crime, and you will discover combinations of all of the above. Pick your passion. Which one of these genres to you read most often? That was a really hard choice for me. I read a cross section of many of these genres, so it was challenging to choose just one. Still that choice must be made before your writing can mature into salable work.

Don't despair when it comes to identifying your start point. One legend among Southern California authors says that Dean Koontz actually started first in an entirely different genre. After giving his first manuscript to a famous author to review, the author's feedback guided him to the suspense/thriller genre in which he now excels. (Yes...he is often shelved in the Horror section, but doesn't in my book really belong there. It's a marketing ploy rather than a definition of his works). The point is that we all need a starting point.

Choose your starting genre and jump into it. My sister, Roxy, has written several romance novels. She is good. Her characters are appealing and her storyline is complex. Still she receives rejection letters. Is she a real writer? Yes! Money does not make a writer. Even publication, as we all know, does not make a writer...at least not a good one. How many of us have wandered through the book stacks, pulled paperbacks off the shelves and said, "I can write better than that!"

Many authors that are published languish in the public eye for two reasons. #1 - They started. #2 - They finished.

Start your writing career, today!

Don't Give Up from David Farland's "Daily Kick"

2012-01-23T13:58:00.001-08:00

This encouraging information was taken from David Farland's e-newsletter entitled, "Daily Kick." It was so good, I transposed it word for word:
While many writers lament that facing a blank page is the most difficult part of writing, others will disagree and state that it is getting "that" rejection letter that really makes writing torturous.

This is because "that" rejection letter can hit right where it hurts; the old ego. "That" rejection letter can make a writer doubt their own abilities, possibly may even make them rethink their dream career and even their life's purpose.

Well, take heart dear writers and don't give up. Just because a strange "someone" didn't like your piece does not mean it is not good.

The following is a list of writers who also received "that" letter. Many even received it more than once, but they didn't let that stop them and you shouldn't either.

Margaret Mitchell received "that" letter 38 times. The book? Gone With The Wind

This "poor" woman spent six years writing the first installment of a series of books she wanted to publish. You would think that after 9 rejections she might have thought she was wasting her time. Children all over the world are grateful that J.K. Rowling didn't feel that way. Her Harry Potter book series has sold over 400 million copies around the globe and even as far back as 2003 the BBC news announced that Rowland was already "richer than the Queen."

Talk about rejection! James Joyce's Dubliners was rejected 22 times! And even after it was published, only 379 copies were sold in its first year. To make matters worse, Mr. Joyce admitted that he purchased 120 of those copies himself.

This quote from author Judy Blume pretty much says it all. "I would go to sleep at night feeling that I'd never be published. But I'd wake up in the morning convinced I would be. Each time I sent a story or book off to a publisher, I would sit down and begin something new. I was learning more with each effort. I was determined. Determination and hard work are as important as talent." It took Ms. Blume 2 years before any of her work was accepted.

Ouch! That Hurts!

It's one thing to receive the standard rejection letter that states that a publisher is "not looking for this kind of book at this time" because then an author can at least console themselves in knowing that it is not personal and it is not their writing that is the problem.

Quite often an author can also convince themselves that maybe their book wasn't even read very carefully by a publisher to begin with. But how would you feel if you found out that not only was your book read, but a publisher actually took the time to tell you why it was so horrendous?

The following are actual excerpts famous authors have received in their rejection letters that turn out to be so laughable in hindsight.

"The girl doesn't, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the 'curiosity' level." The book -- The Diary of Anne Frank.

"It is impossible to sell animal stories in the USA" in a rejection letter regarding the book Animal Farm.

"A very bad book.." Told to Pierre Boulle about his "Bridge Over River Kwai"

"The book is not publishable.' regarding - "Who Killed Viriginia Wolfe?"

"...too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling" told to Dr. Seuss, about his book And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street.

"This is a work of almost-genius - genius in the power of its expression - almost in the sense of its enormous bitterness. I wish there were an audience for a book of this kind. But there isn't. It won't sell." told to Ayn Rand about her book The Fountainhead

"Jonathan Livingston Seagull will never make it as a paperback" the book written by Richard Bach ended up selling more than 8 million copies.

"...she is a painfully dull, inept, clumsy, undisciplined, rambling and thoroughly amateurish writer whose every sentence, paragraph and scene cries for the hand of a pro. She wastes endless pages on utter trivia, writes wide-eyed romantic scenes ...hauls out every terrible show biz cliché in all the books, lets every good scene fall apart in endless talk and allows her book to ramble aimlessly ..." The author was Jacqueline Susann and the book was "Valley of the Dolls"

"An endless nightmare. I do not believe it would "take"...I think the verdict would be 'Oh don't read that horrid book'." This was written about The War of The Worlds by H.G. Wells. Here is another wonderful critique Mr. Wells received about The Time Machine; "It is not interesting enough for the general reader and not thorough enough for the scientific reader."

"This will set publishing back 25 years," written about The Deer Park by Norman Mailer

"We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell." Written about Carrie by Stephen King

'Do you realize, young woman, that you're the first American writer ever to poke fun at sex.' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos

'I haven't really the foggiest idea about what the man is trying to say... Apparently the author intends it to be funny - possibly even satire - but it is really not funny on any intellectual level ... From your long publishing experience you will know that it is less disastrous to turn down a work of genius than to turn down talented mediocrities.' The author was Joseph Heller - the book was Catch - 22.

"It would be extremely rotten taste, to say nothing of being horribly cruel, should we want to publish it." Was in the rejection letter that Ernest Hemingway received regarding his novel "The Torrents of Spring"

"an absurd and uninteresting fantasy," regarding Lord of the Flies

And probably one of the all-time greatest ironic rejections is:

"You'd have a decent book if you'd get rid of that Gatsby Character." told to F. Scott Fitzgerald.

As you can tell from the quotes written above, some publishers just don't have a clue. So start saving those rejection letters. Who knows? Maybe one day you can show them off when your book hits the best seller list?

For the Love of Writing

2012-01-20T12:19:00.000-08:00

In a world where the educated populace worldwide is at an all time high, where fabulous incomes are reaped by successful authors, while the appeal of writing concepts and styles changes almost daily, it's easy to buy into standard definitions of "what works" in specific genres. I support knowing what works. I encourage every writer to develop a familiarity with their genre of choice. But, don't write for fame, money or to prove your worth. Write for the love of writing!

The best writing comes from the heart, not the brain. Although mental acuity shapes and refines our writing, the soul of every written work is engendered in the heart. So, don't write for the awards. If your writing is good awards will come, naturally. Don't write for acclaim. If your message is universal acclaim will arrive easily, on the wings the message you impart. Especially don't write to prove your worth, either as a person or an artist. That is a dangerous path to walk and one on which comparison becomes a yardstick for your value, a very vulnerable place to be. Instead, write from love, for love and to share love.

Writing from love requires you to know yourself. You must be honest about your motives and desires. To write authentically, you can't blame anyone else for your feelings or situation. You must value yourself with your failings, seeing them clearly and without condemnation. In short, you heart must be true for your writing to be true.

So, base your writing on love. When you do, others respond with joy, enthusiasm and loyalty, all-powerful characteristics of an expanding and supportive fan base.

Don't Write Down to Kids by David Farland

2012-01-18T21:48:00.000-08:00

In Farland's weekly e-newsletter "The Daily Kick," he talked about why not to write down to kids. His advice was so wise I'm quoting it here, with a suggestion that every serious writer sign-up for this free newsletter. It's a gem and will richly reward the few moments it takes to get on Farland's list:

Years ago I was invited to Disney World to do some interviews. My family was flown first-class, and we stayed at the resort for a week—all paid for by the Mouse. All that I had to do was go down to the park for a couple of hours on two mornings and do some radio interviews to talk about new attractions at the theme park.
In one interview, I was talking to kids on the Disney Channel, being interviewed by a child reporter. The producer stopped the taping on two occasions and said, “First rule: don’t talk down to the kids.” You see, if you’re an adult and you’re not used to talking to children, you tend to speak in a falsetto. You intentionally dummy down your vocabulary and begin speaking in small sentences.
In short, you try to sound like a kid. Don’t do it.
Now, this advice will run counter to that of many people in the field who will tell you, “You can’t use big words with middle-grade or young adult audiences!” There are even lists of “approved” words.
Yet I believe for some very good reasons that this is the wrong tact to take. I can’t get into all of the reasons in a forum this short, but I’ll elaborate on our next outing.
So here’s my advice, even when writing for very young readers: forget the lists, at least on your first draft. In that draft, write as if you were writing for your intellectual equals. This will help you avoid dummying the work down for artificial reasons.
Now, let’s be honest. Most kids don’t have the vocabulary that adults do. According to an article that I read years ago, the average person has a vocabulary of 10,000 words that they use frequently. Another 10,000 might be used infrequently. But a six-year-old might have a vocabulary of only 2,000 words.
So you’ll want to limit your vocabulary eventually. You can always go back, have some children of the appropriate age read your work, and make adjustments based upon that. When writing for middle-grades, I hired my children to read the books and edit them by circling any words that they didn’t know. Neighbor kids did the same.
I found that when I exposed a child to an unfamiliar word, I could almost always remedy the problem by defining it for them within the text. But I left some words intentionally, so that kids could look the words up on their own, and grow their vocabulary.
Remember what I said about Rowling’s sentence structure and language? She writes well above her audience’s grade-level. That’s all right.
I’m going to tell you a secret that many editors haven’t figured out yet: kids will read what they want. If the story intrigues them enough, they’ll struggle to read above their own grade level.
I once had a small girl, four years old, ask me to sign my Star Wars book, THE COURTSHIP OF PRINCESS LEIA. I asked if she planned to read it someday, and she said in a haughty tone, “I’ve already read it three times. It’s my favorite book!” Her mother told me that she had seen it on the shelf at the bookstore at age three and said, “I want to learn to read, and I want to read that book.” Her mother read it to her once, helped her read through the first three, chapters, and then the three-year-old girl took off and taught herself to read.
This happens over and over. My youngest son Ben set a goal of reading a thousand books in Kindergarten. I helped him through them—all picture books. By the middle of the year, he was reading at a sixth-grade level.
I typically visit schools and talk to about 25,000 children per year. In every third-grade class, about 25% of the kids are reading adult fantasy—EREGON, HARRY POTTER, LORD OF THE RINGS, Terry Brooks, and so on. Do you really think those kids are reading at third-grade level?
No, the truth is that some kids often learn to love reading at an early age. As soon as they do, they begin increasing their skills rapidly. The little things that slowed them down are easily overcome. For example, I recently read with a child who came across the word goon, and read it as “Go-on.” I corrected him, and within a few pages I found that he was taking time to think about the words he was reading, to sound them out better in his head, and perhaps as many as 70% of his errors disappeared in that one outing.
So those third-graders who love to read quickly begin reading at a sixth-grade level, while the children next to them, those who haven’t caught the bug, may still only be reading at a first-grade level.
The children who will buy your books are the ones who love to read. They’ll recommend them to their friends, and those kids will struggle to raise their reading skill in order to share the enjoyment of your book. At least, that was my theory when I advised Scholastic to begin pushing Harry Potter, despite its apparent problems. I’m going to explain a much more powerful reason why you shouldn’t dumb the books down on our next outing.
So when writing to those kids, don’t dumb your books down! Studies show that science fiction readers read well above their level, and as a result have higher IQ’s than people who don’t read science fiction. I’ve known many a science fiction fan who will point this out with pride. But the truth is that any child who loves to read anything—cookbooks, adventure stories, historicals—will soon read well above their normal grade level and get that same boost in IQ. It’s not that science fiction readers are smarter than other people, it’s that avid READERS OF ANYTHING will score higher on such tests.

Writing for Television

2012-01-16T11:33:00.000-08:00

Writing for television breaks into a series of unique genres, of which sitcoms, comedies, prime time dramas and made for TV movies are just a start. Within these genres you'll find a rainbow of audiences, ranging from children's programming to documentary films to TV magazine shows.

Before you start writing, figure out what kind of programming fascinates you. It may take a long time to struggle up to the top in television writing, so make sure whatever type of writing you do is the type you can spend hours, months, even years working on without getting bored or jaded.

Knowing how to organize the structure of each episode is key. So, go to the library and checkout the best books on the subject. I recommend Write to TV by Martie Cook. This piece covers everything, from why you start and end each segment with your "A" plot to how to get a pitch meeting and present your ideas with compelling power. Whether you want to be a staff writer (a job that can open doors but also encourage gray hairs due to tight deadlines) or a freelance writer, writing for television is an art, and requires intelligence and business savvy.

Remember, writing for television is only one facet of writing for Hollywood. Look into your heart and write about what you love. Whether your scripts are geared for famous studios or up and coming producers, the act of writing them will reward you with creative enrichment, polish and, if Fortune smiles, with money.

A New Era of Writing by Jerry Simmons

2012-01-13T11:22:00.000-08:00

Jerry Simmons, former Marketing Director for Turner Publications, puts out a free newsletter each month. This month's offering was so good he allowed me to quote him, as follows:

Over the past four decades there have been three distinct market shifts in book publishing that transitioned the industry. The results of each were dramatic growth for both publishers and writers. As we enter a new era in book publishing we are seeing the dawn of the fourth major transitional market shift. Growth is inevitable as this market evolves and writers position themselves for dramatic changes in what has been a stagnant industry.

Hardcover

The first major shift occurred in the mid 1970’s with the emergence of the hardcover format, which surpassed the mass-market paper and gave publishers a new revenue stream for the same content. Up to that point the paperback was the publishing format leader and responsible for more than the majority of the company’s print order, distribution and revenue.

Trade paper was available at this time but not widely distributed. The hardcover format began to show potential as the bookstore market grew with more independent stores cropping up around the country. This enabled publishers to move away from dependence on the low price mass market format and move to a higher price more respectable hardcover edition. The result was more revenue for the publisher, higher royalties for the author and overall growth for the industry.

Superstores

The second shift in the late 1980’s was the emergence of the large bookstore chains, which transitioned primarily from mass merchant or large box stores to multiple retail locations specifically designed for books. The mom and pop boutique bookstores that existed did not preclude what became the superstore because they provided little sales and profits for the big publishers.

Up to this point the mass-market paperback placed within a defined space in a supermarket, drug or mass merchant was the primary source for distributing and selling books. Publishing decisions were based more on impulse buying as opposed to what is considered a destination purchase. In mass retailers most consumers made a book purchase as they pushed their cart down an aisle and spotted something interesting as opposed to driving directly to a bookstore to make a specific title purchase. This changed dramatically with the super bookstore.

Technology

The third noticeable shift occurred in late 1990’s in the emergence of the print-on-demand technology, which may not have directly dented the sales of the major publishers, but it certainly impacted the industry. Print-on-demand technology was first introduced to the major companies as a way to reduce inventory by printing at bookstore locations as demand warranted. The big publishers rejected the idea, which gave rise to the number of new authors, more published titles and POD publishing companies.

Even though these new titles and companies did not directly compete with the major publishers, they did provide fuel for the Amazon fire and accelerated their growth in the industry. POD companies has caused an explosion in the number of new titles available to consumers but at the same time has also dramatically eroded the perception of the consumer toward books and publishing as the quality of the product has declined.

Amazon itself did not cause a major shift in the publishing industry. The online retailer became a prominent account yet until recently was responsible for a small percent of the major publishers overall sales. Amazon capitalized on the market transition by being in the right place at the right time and becoming the major player for the print-on-demand explosion and catering to their needs.

Digital

The fourth major shift within the publishing industry began in 2007 and really took off in April 2009. These dates coincide with the release of the Kindle and iPad. It is obvious that at this very moment the book industry is transitioning into a digital marketplace where the primary format for all publications will eventually become the eBook. Even though total sales represent barely a quarter of major publishers overall revenue the increase is strong and sustainable.

As more resources are placed into enhancing the format and developing new revenue streams such as advertising and product placement, there is little doubt that publishing is undergoing a major transitional shift in the market. As publishers recognize the overall potential of the eBook goes well beyond the content there is little doubt the format will continue to experience strong growth for the publisher and unlimited potential for the writer.

Opportunity

For writers this represents perhaps the biggest opportunity for growth in the past four decades. As technology changes, grows, and provides new platforms and delivery systems for creative content the demand for that content will grow accordingly. In order for a writer to take advantage of these opportunities they need to do three things. First; make certain they have a basic understanding of the market and how their writing is positioned within that market. Second; find an editor they are comfortable with and can work with to improve the quality of their writing. Third; write as often and as much as possible.

Success as a writer in the new transitional marketplace will require writers to be more publishing and marketing savvy and create a breadth of quality content within the same genre. Anything is possible in book publishing as long as writers continue to improve their work and learn how to market themselves, their content, and their publications. The key is to focus on writing, editing, and never worry about things beyond their control. Markets will continue to shift; the winners will be those in a position to take advantage.

Apologies and Resolutions

2012-01-11T09:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers:

Since before Christmas, I've been very ill and am only now enjoying returning health. Thank you for your patience.

At the start of the New Year, our resolutions rise, fresh and inspiring. The greatest motivator when it comes to writing your tale is simply showing up. When you do, things happen. Ideas sprout. Characters grow. Plotlines develop. No story has a chance of being finished unless it's started. So, start your story and then show up each day to write it.

That is how you realize success as a writer...

Writing Rituals by David Trottier

2011-12-21T15:22:00.000-08:00

David Trottier is a well known fulltime freelance writer with many articles and books to his credit. He states the case for writing rituals so well that the following quote has been taken from his book, The Freelance Writer's Bible.

"Create rituals. Begin each writing session in the same manner. Acquire a ball cap and imprint or embroider the word 'writer' on it. Whenever it is time to write, you can tell your loved ones, 'I'm wearing my writer's cap, tonight.' Create opening and closing ceremonies for the Writer's Olmpics, starring you! Writing should be fun, so have a good time.

Here is how my student Hanna begins every writing session. First, she removes all distractions (unplugs the telephone, shuts doors and windows). Second, she prepares a cup of herb tea. Third, as she savors the tea, she becomes aware of her senses. Fourth, she enters her safe harbor and says, 'Analytical Brain, go to sleep so my Creative Brain can bring forth a masterpiece. A masterpiece needs to come forth.' Afterward, Hanna goes to her work area.

For you, that work area will probably be your desk with a computer and a keyboard. But it doesn't have to be. Mark Twain wrote in bed. Hemingway stood at a tall desk. And, Dalton Trumbo, who won the Oscar for a movie script, sat in a bathtub with a plank across his lap to hold his typewriter...

Other practical counsel includes, steal. Shakespeare did. He borrowed most of his plots from other sources, including history. Ask 'What if...' and don't be afraid to make a radical plot change. Confront blocks and fears to release a goldmine of ideas."

Then, just write! Your rituals, both of place and of thought, will empower the realization of dreams and release the masterpiece growing within.

Write your Life!

2011-12-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

Writing your autobiography is easier and less time consuming than it sounds. If you have a great story to tell, here are a few suggestions that may help. The best selling autobiography of all time was The Diary of Anne Frank. This book is a fascinating read because of: 1) A series of events in which the author was passionately involved; 2) Suspense that builds climactically, from beginning to end; 3) The genuine voice of the writer. Read autobiographies with similar characteristics and you can work out your own writerly style.

Next, brainstorm about important events with family and friends. This will help you remember things of significance, as well as to see these events from the viewpoints of others. Your autobiography should grow into an intimate portrait, highlighting the peaks and valleys of your personal and professional journeys.

Finally, keep in mind that, as a future author, you must bring two important things to the table: First, a list of life experiences that are most moving to you. These should focus on what made you feel pain, love or enlightenment most deeply, listed in chronological order. (As far as time, this task should not take more than one pleasant afternoon to complete. Over-thinking can compromise spontaneity so keep it simple). Second, a brief collection of writing samples. These samples should represent your natural style of writing, and embody the “voice” in which you want your autobiography written. They can include journal entries, notes and poems.

There you go! Follow these steps and the autobiography you dreamed about will flow, spontaneously, onto the page, mirroring your life in ways that complement your experience and emphasize your wisdom.

Our Fairytale Heritage

2011-12-08T21:12:00.000-08:00

Fairytales are dreams made real. Stories of dragons, princesses and mystic enchantments mix with culture, to affect children and adults in ways that are powerful yet unseen. Some experts believe that fairytales reflect dreams and aspirations, often too tender to expose. But, when shared in a fairytale, such ambitions feel real, seem real, without the harsh backlash of literal events.

What is your favorite fairytale? Why does it appeal? Some may choose classic tales, like Sleeping Beauty. I loved this story best before I started dating. In the Disney movie, the princess is dancing alone in the forest, until the prince steps into place, dances his way into her heart then walks her to the edge of a cliff as the sun is setting.

Taking her in his arms, he says, “I love you! What’s your name?”

For a poetic young girl, reality was a harsh awakening when compared with such blatant romance. I still adore Sleeping Beauty, but get a bigger kick out of The Paper Bag Princess. In this charming modern fairytale, a princess falls in love with a handsome prince, but a dragon comes and burns up her castle and carries him away. There is nothing left for the poor princess to wear except an old, ashy paper bag. But, she dons this unusual garment and hunts down the dragon, freeing the prince from his deadly prison. “What are you doing dressed in an old ugly paper bag?” the prince asks, imperiously. Immediately, the scales fall from the princess’s eyes. She no longer wants to marry the prince and chooses to do something more fulfilling, instead.

Your emotional reaction to these two fairytales reveals a lot about you…and what you feel most attracted to write about. Gently, tenderly, review your favorite fairytales. Think about what you love most about the stories you cherish. Then, add such elements to your next manuscript.

Do so, and your story with be gilded with an enchantment that is uniquely your own.

Freelance Writer Success

2011-12-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

Succeeding as a freelance writer isn’t easy. But, it’s not that hard, either. If you passionately desire to make a decent living by writing, here are a few ideas to help you along.

Make a list of your assets: Assets include education, hobbies, business or family contacts. Once you’ve listed your assets succeeding as a writer may seem more within your reach.
Create a timeline: Determine how much time you have each week to donate toward developing your writing business. Usually, this breaks out into two sections, writing/pitching to clients and self-education.
Develop a cost/return structure: Many writers bid on a per word basis. I never do. My bids are always either by the hour or by the project, which means I must be good at estimating how much time and effort a project will require. This gives the writer more control over time and, therefore, income.
Leverage your research: Although most projects require an agreement for first publication rights, that doesn’t mean your research and editorial connections are also locked into that project. Whatever you learned and whatever connections you made while researching always remain your own. Use them in other ways and you will multiply your income.
Know your client’s style: Every creative director and editor has a preferred style. Part of that style is how they use freelancers. Do they use the same folks over and over, or a changeable roster of writers? Check this out. You want to groom clients that will use your services again and again.

Freelance writing is both fun and profitable. Jump into the business and start writing. It is both fun and profitable.

Heartfelt Ideas

2011-12-02T15:58:00.001-08:00

Many of us wonder how to find the right idea to write about. Do we mine our youthful memories? How about reviewing the works of great writers for inspiration? World-renowned authors have used both of these techniques. Ray Bradbury consistently wrote stories rooted in his youthful experiences, Dandelion Wine for example. Shakespeare copied storylines from myths and folktales upon which he built many of his greatest plays, including Romeo and Juliet. Do we craft from memories or myths?

First, try writing from your heart…

When we write from the heart, what appears on the page is genuine, touching, real. These words move others to think, to change, to live better lives. Mitch Albom’s book Have a Little Faith is one such tale. It comes from the heart so it touches the heart. And, because it is genuine, it will last on library bookshelves for a long time.

Sometimes looking into our hearts can be painful. There may be unresolved burdens or abusive scars that we have not yet forgiven. No matter what we suffer, looking into our hearts is our best option. When we sit still and listen to heart-speak, magnificent ideas come to mind.

Look to your heart. Listen to your heart. Write from your heart, and your stories will have meaning that lasts.

Quotable Quotes

2011-11-29T22:33:00.000-08:00

On one of the quote sites for famous authors, I discovered a series of wise and inspiring statements. Here are a few of them...

"If my doctor told me I had only six months to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster."

Isaac Asimov

"When we come to the edge of all the light we have and we must take a step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe one of two things: Either we will find something to stand on or we will be taught to fly."
Anonymous

"The best kind of writing, and the biggest thrill in writing, is to suddenly read a line from your typewriter that you didn't know was in you."

Larry L. King

“The poorest of us shed our blood over every chapter. The best of us start from scratch with every new book."

Raymond Chandler

"Only a mediocre writer is always at his best."
W. Somerset Maugham

"Making a book is a craft; it takes more than wit to become an author."

Jean de la Bruyere

"A book is like a man - clever and dull, brave and cowardly, beautiful and ugly. For every flowering thought there will be a page like a wet and mangy mongrel, and for every looping flight a tap on the wing and a reminder that wax cannot hold the feathers firm too near the sun."

John Steinbeck

"In the tale, in the telling, we are all one blood. Take the tale in your teeth, then, and bite till the blood runs, hoping it's not poison; and we will all come to the end together, and even to the beginning: living, as we do, in the middle."

Ursula K. Le Guin

So, take your writerly flight. Leap off into the airy creative space within, knowing that, before you strike the ground, you will spread wings!

La Jolla Writers Conference 2011

2011-11-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

Every year I attend one of the greatest writers conferences on the West Coast, the La Jolla Writers Conference. Here elite authors, often regulars on the New York Times Best Sellers List, speak and teach. Below, you will find highlights from this year’s conference.

Writers don’t need ideas. They daydream and the ideas come. There is a difference between a plot and a story. For example: King dies and queen dies is a plot. King dies and queen dies of a broken heart is a story.

Raymond Fiest

Art cannot be taught. Craft can. Technique inspires thoughts like, “Why did the character show me that?” Chandler wrote, “A slice of spumoni wouldn’t have melted on her now.” And, “Her look would have stuck out his back by at least four inches.” These are definitions of character that rise above mere exposition.

Steven Boyett

The art of pacing is like an umpire making calls at a game. You don’t notice him but he keeps the game fair and the ball in play. Nitpicking details sacrifice pace. Don’t drag your reader through extraneous details just because you spent time researching them. Instead, distill words down to the dramatic core.

Andy Gross

Writers have a plethora of imagination that we must free up. Let go of thoughts like, “What if my mother reads this?” Just write the book. No writer ever wastes time writing. Even if what you produce is fertilizer, keep putting it out there. Stuff grows in fertilizer. You may be nourishing flowers along your writing path.

Jan Burke

All of the authors quoted above have had multiple award-winning books. Follow their counsel and your writing will reach new heights!

Mastering the Rules

2011-11-22T17:53:00.001-08:00

Although no one can teach you to write, you can learn to write with eloquence and power by mastering the rules. That sounds like plodding advice, as if I’m counseling you to spend your life between the musty shelves of a library reading grammar books. That’s not it. But, basic grammatical and structural skills are essential to creating script that is persuasive and intriguing. The purpose of this knowledge is to empower writers to write at their highest peak of skill, to communicate clearly through moving language.

What writers enjoy most is submersion in the intuitive process of creation. Like watching a movie that no one else can see, writing is a process of discovery. Very good writers read a lot and write a lot. To write well we must practice the rules we know.

Good amateur writers write when they can fit it into their schedule. Good professional writers write the way others breathe…all the time. But, all this practice means nothing without knowing how to construct a sentence correctly. It’s bewitching to want to break the rules, to rebel against their conformity. But, without a mastery of basic writing concepts, we can’t break rules in ways that attract and enthrall our readership.

So, trust your instinct but teach yourself the rules, before you break them. Remember, everyone can write. Everyone should write. But, writing with power and poignancy is the result of both using the rules and honoring our intuition.

Dream your Dream

2011-11-17T16:37:00.000-08:00

Writers are dreamers. They dream of mysteries, of fantasies, of romances; they create imaginary worlds that make ordinary things fantastical. Their dreams open doors to the extraordinary and increase our appreciation of what we encounter each day.

Sometimes their dreams are simple. The scent of plum cake, the stitching on grandma’s quilt, the touch of a baby’s hand fills pages with emotion or nostalgia. Sometimes their dreams are wild. Glaring dragons, miraculous technologies, or the discovery of brave new worlds, spill off the page, coloring our reality.

Whatever your dreams, whatever your aspirations, pursue them with full purpose of heart. Nothing in this world is achieved without a dream. Make your dream a reality for all to share.

Feed your Inner Poet

2011-11-15T13:08:00.001-08:00

Poetry is the muse of the soul. Yet, in our Western World, it holds less attraction for writers than genres that draw more income. Still, nourishing your inner poet can act as a wellspring to infuse your script with power and appeal. For example, read the following verses and feel their impact, then write whatever comes to mind as a test of their stimulation.

My life running to the seas

through heather, bracken and bad grass,

on its fanked eerie course,

like the mean and shallow stream

that was taking its meager way through a green patch

to the sea in the Kyle.

But again and again a spring tide came

to put beauty on the river foot,

to fill its destination with richness,

and sea-trout and white-bellied salmon came

to taste the water of the high hills

with flood-tide in Inver Eyre.

Sorley MacLean

Look on me! There is an order

Of mortals on the earth, who do become

Old in their youth, and die ere middle age,

Without the violence of warlike death;

Some perishing of pleasure – some of study –

Some worn with toil – some of mere weariness –

Some of disease – and some insanity –

And some of withered, or of broken hearts.

Lord Byron

These images stir the heart, causing thoughts to rise to the surface that may have remained comfortably settled in the dark. Explore your artistic side through poetry. You may harvest a plethora of inspiration.

David Farland - What Kind of Author do you Want to Be?

2011-11-11T12:27:00.000-08:00

To introduce you to his thoughtful style, I am posting quotes from his newsletter below:

In my last article, I spoke about the different things that writers can do. I’m often surprised by how few authors have really thought about what it is that they’re trying to accomplish. Do you want to be considered an entertainer? A prophet who forewarns of political doom? A writer whose work electrifies and binds people together?

I love it when an author figures that out early. Personally, I didn’t have much of a vision for what I wanted to become. I figured it out over a few years.

About twenty years ago, L. Ron Hubbard re-released the novel Buckskin Brigades. A businessman in an airport bought a copy, sat down to read, and became so engrossed in the novel, he discovered that his plane had taken off without him—more than an hour earlier! So he hopped on the next plane home. When he got there, he saw police cars in his driveway, along with his brother’s car. He became alarmed and rushed into the house to find his brother comforting his wife. It turned out that the plane he was to have taken crashed, and everyone on it had died. That book had saved his life!

I read about it on the cover of a major newspaper, and I decided, “That’s the kind of writer I want to be—the kind who saves lives by entertaining people well!” So I went to work.

I wrote The Runelords and sent it in to my agent. She passed it off to her assistant, who began to read. She had planned to read a chapter before bed, but became so engrossed that she kept reading. At two she still couldn’t find a place to stop.

At five in the morning, she realized that she was in trouble and drove to an all-night clinic.

At nine in the morning she finished the novel in the hospital and called the agent to let her know that she was stuck there with a urinary-tract infection.

Another reader began reading one morning before work and kept on for hours, even though his boss kept calling with threats. He got fired, but said, “I realized that there are a lot of crummy jobs in the world, but not a lot of good books.”

So I’ve never managed to save anyone’s life, but I have managed to get them fired from their day jobs and put them in the hospital!

Entertaining is important to me. In fact, I believe that whatever else you want to do as an author, you must first entertain. No one cares if you’re a political thinker or a great self-help guru, unless you can capture their interest and entertain at the same time.

I also believe that entertainers are far more valuable than the average critic understands.

But your story can do more than just entertain. I mentioned being a teacher. Some tales are admittedly more about teaching than mere storytelling. If you watch Shakespeare’s “Othello,” for example, it’s a masterful argument about the evils of dishonesty, about the power of lies to destroy others, and the viewpoint character in the tale is the monstrous liar himself. Other Shakespeare plays tackle issues such as jealousy, the dangers of the occult, and so on. Each has a strong moral theme, but the morals aren’t particularly revelatory in nature. One professor summed up the moral of one of Shakespeare’s plays thusly, “We should be nice to each other.” True? Yes. Profound? No.

In other words, though our works might teach, they don’t have to be profound. Each generation must learn the same truths about life over and over again. So stories that teach need only to deliver the tale effectively—with enough intellectual clarity and emotional power so that the message stays with the audience.

Let me give you an example. When I was a young teen, I had a political science teacher who was a communist. I lived in a neighborhood where we had dozens of communes nearby. I was attracted to the idealism that some of my communist friends exuded. I felt that any society that doesn’t take care of those who are in great need—the physically and mentally ill, the disabled—was a failure, an embarrassment.

One day I was speaking to a very intelligent young woman, and she recommended one of her favorite books—Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead.

Rand’s works are so pro-capitalist that they read almost like tracts, but I found her arguments to be thought-provoking and convincing. Indeed, the arguments entertained me on an intellectual level, even though the story did not hold my interest. Forty years later, I don’t recall the plot at all, only the substance of the author’s argument. Ayn Rand turned me from a communist into a capitalist.

In order to be that kind of “teacher,” it seems to me that one needs to sound a clear warning. You must strive to be unambiguous. What if Ayn Rand had a second novel, one that promotes the ideals of communism? Would her novels have galvanized any readers to choose one side of the topic or another? I think not.

Many literary writers believe that it’s a virtue to examine both sides of an issue and let the reader decide what’s right and what’s wrong. They don’t want to be didactic. As a result, they waffle on every topic and never sound a clear call on anything. That’s a huge mistake. It’s a sign of intellectual weakness and moral cowardice.

Some people believe that in order to be a great writer, you must entertain and also be a great teacher. That seems reasonable. Given two books of equal merit as entertainment, the one that also gives us some profound insights will feel “stronger,” of greater value.

So, find out what kind of author you want to be before you write. It will bring meaning and power to your work.

Conference Notes 2011

2011-11-08T14:46:00.001-08:00

For the past few days, I’ve been indulging in one of my favorite pastimes, attending the La Jolla Writers Conference. At this yearly event, masters of suspense, fantasy and mystery teach rising writers how to become best selling authors. Below are a few of the many notes taken at this world-class event.

Art cannot be taught. Craft can. Embed details in your narrative, details that hook the reader and move the plot forward.
Make your “voice” consistent. Carry it through from start to finish.
Metaphors do not always have to be violent to be effective. “A slice of spumoni wouldn’t have melted on her, now” is one example.
Support one character as the devil’s advocate. That is the one that may express the reader’s disbelief without breaking connection with the story.
For good action, combine verb packing with a sense of place.
Writing that involves all the senses increases tension. (Read Misery).
Everything that happens should come as a surprise to the reader, yet, in retrospect, be inevitable.
Keep the pace fast to keep the story moving.
Regardless of how much research you’ve done, only include the vital detail. Don’t flood your book with facts that bog the storyline down.
If you think your writing is good enough, you’re probably wrong. Revision and editing is where your work becomes great instead of merely good.
The lies we tell in our stories must be matched by truths. If we tell a huge lie, it must be balanced by a massive truth!
Each chapter is a carrier of information. Don’t weigh scenes down with too much information. Keep them bare bones and the pace with stay fast and fascinating.
No writer ever ever wastes time writing. If what you’re producing is fertilizer, it will make things grow better in the future!

Apply these notes to your writing life and spectacular things will inevitably follow.

Touched with Fire

2011-11-02T16:35:00.001-07:00

The book Touched with Fire by Kay R. Jameson, deals with manic-depressive illness and the artistic temperament. Many artists condemn themselves for what modern society considers weaknesses, including moodiness, short attention spans, inability to relate socially and psychotic episodes. What is rarely if ever mentioned is that these symptoms often accompany that rare genius that spawns rich imaginative literary creations.

“Poetic or artistic genius, when infused with these fitful and inconstant moods,” Jameson says, “can become a powerful crucible for imagination and experience…(And) impassioned moods…and the artistic temperament can be welded into a ‘fine madness’…”

The pragmatic modern mind immediately assumes that such moody inconstancy is a “problem,” a negative related to ego that should be crushed instead of appreciated. In Touched with Fire, Jameson makes it clear that, during times of greatest poetic expression in society, possession of a fine madness was considered a gift to be identified, understood and used, not a fault of nature to be condemned and eradicated.

I’m not suggesting that we indulge our tempers due to ego or trample upon others in the name of creativity. However, I do promote gentle assessments of our personal characteristics, with the knowledge that many such idiosyncrasies, while they may complicate lifestyle, are evidences of abilities that can be cultivated into rich creative contributions.

I encourage everyone with a creative inclination to read this book. At the worst it will educate writers in the symptoms of a mental illness that has caused deep sorrow among the artistic population. At the best it will open doors to, “…understanding the relationship between moods and imagination…and the importance of moods in igniting thought, changing perceptions, creating chaos, forcing order upon that chaos, and enabling transformation.”

The Advantages of Suffering

2011-10-31T13:53:00.001-07:00

There are some writers who go to the best schools, come from the richest families, learn from the most renowned teachers and step into the limelight with a swagger. Their writing may be deep, insightful and widely published, but, unless they have experienced one vital part of life, their works are just pleasantly written passages.

That part of life is suffering.

Too often writers believe that their writing isn’t good enough because they haven’t attended the most expensive schools, they don’t come from families filled with literary luminaries, or learned at the feet of the most famous authors.

They don’t understand the advantages of suffering.

Real struggle, deep pain, true tragedy teach principles of wisdom. Without such wisdom writing is vain and superficial. With such wisdom writing grows from grace to grace, opening the hearts of readers to new understandings that change them, forever.

This doesn’t mean that budding writers should leap out into the world and do bad things so they can suffer. Most of us suffer enough, just by living. But, each writer should look back at every event that caused them pain, spend time empathizing with family members and friends about their struggles, seek to learn what suffering has to teach.

This kind of insight moves writing beyond superficialities of style. It grows into a wellspring of wisdom that can infuse our work with depth.

Remember the value of suffering. Always see it as an advantage, not a burden. Thus, your writing can become powerful and poignant, while suffering, in all its pain and anguish, can grow into a mighty teacher that transforms mediocre writing into great art.

Tune In by Tuning Out

2011-10-28T01:40:00.000-07:00

Our writing becomes richer when we tune in the world around us. To do this, we must tune out those ordinary noises, sounds, scents and anxieties that act like static to the creative mind.

Imagine a safe place, a secure place (either wild or peaceful), where you are surrounded by beauty. For some this may be a quiet nook in a library or a waterfall in a park or a bridge crossing a roaring river. Wherever you find harmony, imagine yourself there.

Then, tune out the physical world around you and tune in the imaginary one. Tune it in completely. Taste the air, smell the leaves, feel the grasses blowing in the breeze. There is fire in the atmosphere of such imaginings, coals of creative genius too often buried beneath the ash of daily business. These coals burst into conflagration when we give them attention.

Always include something you love in the tuning in process. Always be specific.

If you have a passion for food, be specific about which kind of food you want to dream about. Maybe fruit? Which fruit? Gale Brandeis said, in her book, Fruitflesh, “We are fruit with breath inside…Breath invigorates us, fills our blood with oxygen, fills our bodies with vitality, fills our language with possibility. Breath, literally, inspires us.”

We must know the wilderness within, the peaceful meadows of the heart or flaming atmosphere of the spirit, before we can craft eloquent phrases that not only touch but move the hearts of our readers. It’s not hard. All we must do is tune out daily care and tune in creative genius.

Everyone Can Write

2011-10-26T15:19:00.001-07:00

From our youth, many of us have been taught that only special people can write. You must be a genius, an artist, someone with a unique gift, before you can put pen effectively to paper.

Nonsense! That’s the kind of twaddle that egotistical pseudo-intellectuals tout to trembling students. It’s ugly and elitist and just plain wrong.

Remember, when you were a child? How everything from words to works of art poured easily onto the page? Without pretentiousness or snobbery, children create beauty. Once we become educated, however, once we become morbidly conscious of critics and audience and the how-to’s of this and that, then our writing fails.

Brenda Ueland puts it simply yet eloquently. “Since art must truly be felt and cannot be willed, since it has to generate spontaneously in the artist’s inner self, there comes into existence willed, brain-spun, pseudo-art. And, one common kind of pseudo-art is that which pretends to be very hard to understand, subtle and abstruse, so that only a very exclusive few, a few extremely cultured people, can understand it.”

Children, moved by spontaneous emotion, rashly express with genuine abandon. As adults, we must revive such authentic creativity, often with a blinding flash of discovery that changes our viewpoints, forever.

The truth is that everyone is born with an innate ability to write. Whether we write with crayons or poetical feather pens, each of us has an inborn gift that can be cultivated, until it becomes as easy as breathing.

Have faith that you can write. Believe that you, too, are a genius. As you do, you will discover the precious artist within and a multitude of stories already created and ready to spill onto the page.

Tips on World Building

2011-10-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

When it comes to building your imaginary world, remember the following keys:

1)     Every world is run by laws. Your hero and heroine must abide by those laws, as well as events that occur in your plotline.
2)     Fill out description with the senses. Using the senses brings readers into the story.
3)     Make sure your world is filled with ideas that readers can relate to. If it's a little familiar, they find enough stability to accept what is new or strange.
4)     Show don't tell. Sometimes this is tricky, but showing is far more compelling than telling.
5)     Create a culture. This includes religious themes, dress, hairstyles, politics, food and anything else that affects how characters relate to each other or the plot.

There are many more keys to world building. Review your favorite books and watch how those authors do it. Build your world with passion and love and it will fascinate readers, everywhere.

Dream your Dream of Authorship

2011-10-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

Many of us push aside dreams of actually authoring that novel, autobiography, article or poem, because we believe we're not worthy. After all, when we look in the mirror each morning, we see someone that has made mistakes, hurt themselves and others, or failed to achieve an important goal. If we buy into the comparison mentality, we may actually think that we are less valuable because of the errors in our history, because of the lack of dollars in our bank account, because we are not famous or fabulously talented.
NONSENSE! You are worthy of your dreams of authorship.
Mistakes are great learning tools. Being an ordinary Joe grants freedom from the Paparazzi. A low bank account can motivate creative thinking. Pain is the precursor to wisdom.
You are worthy of your dreams. The first thing you need to do is dream about those dreams. Imagining how you would feel if you had written that novel, autobiography, article or poem is the first step to actually accomplishing it.
No one sees like you do. No one feels like you do. No one writes like you do.

Dream your dream. Then, make that dream real. It's a gift that only you can give the world.

Feeding your Muse

2011-10-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

The creative mind hungers for inspiration. Writers and artists often refer to their source of imagination as their Muse. A Muse was a Greek goddess, the source of creativity for art and literature. Too often, the voice of our Muse may be smothered by daily cares and the hustle and bustle of life.

Here are a few ideas for feeding your Muse:

An hour at the library. With your cell phone off, this can be a time of quiet reflection and study.
An afternoon in the park. Immersing oneself in nature refreshes and inspires the Muse.
Writing poetry. Most of us don’t sell poetry; such a creative journey is taken for the love of the journey, itself, a way to renew the Muse.
Fifteen minutes with Shakespeare. Reading anything written by the immortal bard is a wonderful way to tap into the power of your Muse.
Play musical pillows. Stretch out and listen to your favorite kind of slow music; this means mellow not manic. Classic blues or Beethoven may nourish your inner Muse.

Other suggestions include outdoor concerts, fun or fine dining, even doing a kindness for someone else. Find what puts you in touch with your quiet center, then invest a few moments in that activity. Your Muse will thank you for it!

Write for your Life

2011-10-17T13:05:00.001-07:00

Writing is more than a mere passing pleasure. It is a power that can change minds, societies and worlds. During revolutionary times, writers have been proscribed, jailed and killed. Why? Because writing affects society.

Writing changes how people think, which also changes how they see, feel and act. The tone of every human group can be swayed by the simple act of writing. Knowing this should affect why and how you write.

With great power comes great responsibility. Every writer has power not only to entertain but to influence. We redefine the roles of heroes, heroines and villains. Those goals to which others aspire are either supported or decried by our writing.

Think deeply about this truth. Your written words can cause real and permanent change. Do you seek to inform, educate, proselytize or spread propaganda? Whichever you choose, your writing can transform your world.

You will have to live with whatever changes your words inspire. So, write the truth. Write for truth. And, write for your life.

Every word counts…

Quotes from Great Writers

2011-10-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

Great writers struggle with their writing, just like regular people do. Sometimes they cope with humor, sometimes with wit. Whatever avenue they choose to express themselves, their thoughts on writing are memorable.

If my doctor told me I had only six months to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster. Isaac Asimov

Contests are wonderful whetstones for sharpening a manuscript.

Elizabeth Lyon

Sir, I admit your gen'ral rule
That every poet is a fool;
But you yourself may serve to show it,
That every fool is not a poet.

Alexander Pope

The poorest of us shed our blood over every chapter. The best of us start from scratch with every new book. Raymond Chandler

Every reader finds himself. The writer's work is merely a kind of optical instrument that makes it possible for the reader to discern what, without this book, he would perhaps never have seen in himself. Marcel Proust

It's easy to get an agent. What's hard is writing a salable book.

Michael Larsen
A good book has no ending.

R.D. Cumming

McKee on Story

2011-10-12T13:19:00.001-07:00

In Robert McKee’s brilliant book on screenwriting entitled, Story, he outlines powerful proven writing principles and why they work in all genres. At the beginning of this fine work, McKee quotes Kenneth Burke as saying, “Stories are equipment for living.” This truth provides an unerring direction for how to apply the principles taught in Story.

“A rule says, 'You must do it this way.' A principle says, 'This works…and has through all remembered time.' These opening sentences pave the way for other even more enlightening truths. “Your work,” McKee continues, “needn’t be modeled after the ‘well-made’ play; rather, it must be well made within the principles that shape our art. Anxious, inexperienced writers obey rules. Rebellious unschooled writers break rules. Artists master the form...

“The archetypal story unearths a universally human experience…an archetypal story creates settings and characters so rare that our eyes feast on every detail, while its telling illuminates conflicts so true to humankind that it journeys from culture to culture…Stereotypical stories stay at home, archetypal stories travel…

“Once inside this alien world, we find ourselves…we discover our own humanity…We do not wish to escape life but to find life…Screen and prose writers create the same density of world, character and story…Story is about the realities, not the mysteries, of writing.”

If these wise sayings fascinate you, buy the book. There are many marvelous tomes delineating how to write a book, short story or screenplay. This is one of the most detailed and eloquent.

“On the screen there’s no place to hide,” McKee continues. “Story is about mastering the art, not second-guessing the marketplace…Rather than agonizing over the odds, put your energies into achieving excellence.”

Each writer has his or her own calling to fulfill. Knowing the principles of writing can help realize such fulfillment more quickly. Make your story brilliant by applying writing principles proven over time.

The Truth Behind Great Writing

2011-10-10T22:42:00.001-07:00

Writing that touches home, that stirs the heart and creates memorable, clearly experienced moments, is writing based on truth. This doesn’t mean that one must live a bohemian lifestyle, break the law or rebel against cultural mores in a quest for truth. People that rebel, especially famous accomplished people, are often merely self-indulgent rather than truthful, growing selfish, hard and mean instead of enlightened. (And, isn’t personal growth our most important truth?) Writing from truth means that you must be in tune with what you believe, that your heart and the ideas that live there must be known to you, intimately.

This is the character behind your writing, the very real spiritual blood with which you mark the page. If your stories are rooted in a desire for money, fame, popularity or sophistication, they won’t ring true. Only when you know your truth, in all its tarnished beauty, can you write the truth.

Children speak truth with an ease that adults often find embarrassing. That's because they are genuine, with no hidden agendas. Basing your stories on truth can inspire great writing. Your personal connection with truth may take time to develop and a willingness to examine not only what others expect of you, but your own hidden motives. Once you touch base with these truths, your stories will sound intuitive, sympathetic and real. In other words, they will attain greatness.

One Irish proverb says, “Seeing is believing, but feeling is God’s own truth.” Write from divine truth and your readers will feel deeply and remember the truth you portrayed for a lifetime.

New York Times Best Sellers

2011-10-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

Reading great books not only entertains but trains our writing skills. When we hone eye and heart with fine literature, we become better at concepting, developing story structure and crafting script. All of the following are current best sellers. Compare them to books in your personal library.

THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett
LETHAL, by Sandra Brown
THE MILL RIVER RECLUSE, by Darcie Chan
HEAT RISES, by Richard Castle
SON OF STONE, by Stuart Woods
HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent
CONFIDENCE MEN, by Ron Suskind
UNBROKEN, by Laura Hillenbrand
MONEYBALL, by Michael Lewis
THE NIGHT CIRCUS, by Erin Morgenstern
REAMDE, by Neal Stephenson
IN MY TIME, by Dick Cheney with Liz Cheney
EVERY THING ON IT, by Shel Silverstein
WONDERSTRUCK, by Brian Selznick
MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN, by Ransom Riggs
THE POWER OF SIX, by Pittacus Lore
THE BOOK THIEF, by Markus Zusak
THE RED PYRAMID, by Rick Riordan
THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN, by Sherman Alexie
OUTLIERS, by Malcolm Gladwell
CLARK HOWARD'S LIVING LARGE IN LEAN TIMES, by Clark Howard
TIPPING POINT, by Malcolm Gladwell
THAT USED TO BE US, by Thomas L. Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum
IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS, by Erik Larson
THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES, by Gary Chapman
CRAZY LOVE, by Francis Chan with Danae Yankoski
EAT TO LIVE, by Joel Fuhrman
FORKS OVER KNIVES, edited by Gene Stone
SILENT RUN, by Barbara Freethy (Barbara Freethy)
A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, by George R. R. Martin (Random House)
A KILLING TIDE, by P. J. Alderman (P. J. Alderman)
MILE 81, by Stephen King (Scribner)
A GAME OF THRONES, by George R. R. Martin (Random House)
THE PARIS WIFE, by Paula McLain (Random House)
THE RACE, by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott (Penguin Group)
THE ART OF FIELDING, by Chad Harbach (Little, Brown)
THE CONFESSION, by John Grisham (Knopf Doubleday)
THE REVERSAL, by Michael Connelly (Grand Central)
A STORM OF SWORDS, by George R. R. Martin (Random House)
SECOND SON, by Lee Child (Random House)
AMERICAN ASSASSIN, by Vince Flynn (Simon & Schuster)
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, by Stieg Larsson (Knopf Doubleday)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS, by Nora Roberts (Harlequin)
A FEAST FOR CROWS, by George R. R. Martin (Random House

The previous list includes books that currently top the New York Times Best Sellers List. It covers suspense, crime, fantasy, non-fiction and many other genres. Read, learn and, most of all, enjoy!

How to Choose a Ghostwriter

2011-10-05T03:51:00.001-07:00

Many people need help when writing books, speeches, ads, and autobiographies or other professional written works. Using a ghostwriter is a timesaving way to get the job done, while supervising script development. Here are a few keys to choosing a ghostwriter that is a positive fit.

1) Love the Project –

Writers always write better about topics they really care about. Pre-screen prospective ghostwriters. Make sure you’re on the same page with topic fascination.

2) Experience Counts –

Make sure your ghostwriter is a true professional. Review past projects and past clients. Only then sit down and talk money.

3) Stick to your Budget –

Ghostwriters are available with a broad pallet of skills and expertise. And, you really do get what you pay for! Make sure you know exactly what you can afford and stay under that financial bar.

In the last few minutes of the movie “Field of Dreams,” Kevin Costner, frustrated and unfulfilled, said, “I’ve done everything you wanted and I never asked, ‘What’s in it for me?’ Well, ‘What’s in it for me?’” Most ghostwriters come from the same place.

They want money. Plain and simple.

Most ghosted books are assigned as Work-for-Hire for between $15,000 and $40,000, by average industry standards.

The good news is that, once your ghostwriter is finished, you own the results. And, believe me, it is your work. No ghostwriter came up with the concept. No ghostwriter spent hours hammering out storyline details. No ghostwriter paid for the labor. This is your baby and you deserve the credit.

So, get a good ghostwriter, make sure that your minds are in harmony, and provide the leadership to see your project through.

Ghostwriters are great resources to help you achieve your dreams!

Life Lessons from Steven R. Boyett

2011-10-01T14:59:00.000-07:00

Steven Boyett, internationally famous author of the novels Ariel, Elegy Beach and Mortality Bridge, gave a keynote speech at the La Jolla Writers Conference in which he delineated life lessons learned during his years as a writer. A renowned writer/teacher of fiction, screenplays, collegiate writing courses, seminars, and workshops, Boyett has published stories in literary, science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies and magazines. It’s interesting, therefore, to learn that the greatest lessons acquired by this exquisite writer and fascinating instructor came when he chose to distance himself from writing, and plunge into hobbies that brought enrichment and delight.

Many rising lights in literature, like Blake Hutchins, Patrick O’Sullivan and Laurie Tom, have written award-winning stories that I recommend beginning writers to read. They are fine examples of high concept development and story structure, as well as eloquence of execution. Yet, feeding the soul is also a real way to make our writing better.

The keynote speech delivered by Steven Boyett, a life changing talk for all writers, is easy to access at the Internet address listed below, although you may have to cut and paste it into your browser window. Thank you, Steven, for making this presentation available for all.
http://www.steveboy.com/blog/?p=1666

Write your Screenplay!

2011-09-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

It’s been said that everyone has a screenplay in them. In Southern California it’s standard procedure to have a literary agent pitching a screenplay in Hollywood, at all times. But, just writing a screenplay isn’t enough. You must write it right. Film audiences are much more sophisticated, today, than they were in years past. Exposure to a broad venue of brilliantly written features has polished their observational skills, honing their perception of “story” to a place of refinement. Even kids can give a concise, point-by-point definition of why a movie is great or why it “stinks.”

What is that magic formula for success in film? It’s as close as your library or bookstore. The Writers Journey, Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler is one brilliant resource. It takes you through the Hero’s Journey, step-by-step, while describing how and when to introduce a host of support characters and villains. Story by Robert McKee, not only defines story structure but gives examples of screenplays that worked and didn’t work, so you can review them as part of your read. Write Screenplays that Sell, by Hal Ackerman, takes you from plot-point to plot-point, from inception through the inciting event, sharing professional secrets not taught in film schools. And, Lew Hunter’s Screenwriting 434 is a brilliant synopsis of his internationally famous film class at UCLA. (He also hosts a screenwriting colony several times a year. Get info. by email at lew1@windstream.net) Hunter helped found the American Screenwriters Association and has been inducted into its Hall of Fame.

There you go. All the information you need to craft a brilliant screenplay is in these books. Read them and use their tips to fashion a screenplay that will “pop” on the silver screen!

Why Write?

2011-09-26T23:57:00.001-07:00

For millennia people have written their thoughts, their hopes, their dreams onto parchment, paper and stone. From cave drawings to pictographs to encyclopedias, writing has chronicled both the hubris and the heart of mankind.

Why do you write? Have you thought about your motivation? Take a moment and put down the top seven reasons why you write at all. Is it to chronicle dreams, to promote business, to communicate feelings, to evaluate thoughts? Writing is an intimate act. When you write the invisible thoughts within become concrete and viewable.

What do you learn when reading the writings of others? What goals, truths or facts can be gleaned? Are you nourished by language? Does your mind broaden when exposed to fresh ideas?

Think about it.

Writing can remain a mundane daily task. Or, it can morph into a luminous act of brilliance and growth.

Why write?

The answer is as close as your pencil…

The Inner Game of Tennis (Writing)

2011-09-23T16:04:00.001-07:00

Writing, like any other task, requires focus. Complete immersion in topic and storyline is essential to enable a writer to craft with skill and power. The book The Inner Game of Tennis by Gallwey, acts as a step-by-step guide in how to quiet your mind, let creativity flow and increase concentration. Using tennis as a format, Gallwey reviews the basics of controlling and guiding your mind.

“This is the game that takes place in the mind of the (writer). It is played against such obstacles as lapses in concentration, nervousness, self-doubt and self-condemnation. In short, it is played to overcome all habits of mind which inhibit excellence in performance.”

Have you wondered why your writing sometimes flows easily, but is wretchedly difficult the very next day? Do you experience external stress as an inhibiting factor, leaching creativity and craftsmanship from your work? Think of your mind as the steering wheel that controls the direction of your writing. Controlling your mind is an “inner game” that can make the difference between mediocrity and excellence. Tolerance rather than judgment is one important element that leads to such excellence.

“When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we do not criticize it as ‘rootless and stem-less.’ We treat it as a seed, giving it the water and nourishment required of a seed. When it first shoots up out of the earth, we don’t condemn it as immature or underdeveloped; nor do we criticize the buds for not being open when they appear. We stand in wonder at the process taking place and give the plant the care it needs at each stage of its development.”

This is good common sense. Unfortunately, such nurturing does not happen often in the experience of the writer. Insecure, competitive, jealous instructors, classmates and peers trample the tender shoots of our creativity almost before they breach our spiritual topsoil. Harsh or abusive feedback may be insisted upon at critique groups, during classes and by family members. One of my relatives, when reading something I composed in my teenage years, told me that it was “…much too gingerbready for adults. But, maybe you could write for children.”

Hmmm!

After hoisting my courage back up from the depths, I wrote a short story and submitted it to a tri-state competition, slated to be judged by the professor of an elite college on the east coast. In red ink, the judge wrote the following on my entry. “You should read lots and lots of books and magazines before ever attempting to write, again!” Afterward, I was told that this professor sat down with several bottles of wine in front of his fireplace and took great joy, while judging, in “putting blood in the envelopes” of each entrant.

This kind of vicious attack is not uncommon in other professions, but seems particularly rampant in the writing community. The Inner Game of Tennis teaches us how to “explore the limitless potential” within ourselves, how to allow the gracious flowering of talent without setbacks caused by the acidic pruning of the critic. “The unconscious mind hears everything and never forgets…” Review this wonderful book and the act of writing may rise more smoothly and more easily to mind and heart.

(Currently out-of-print but may be ordered in paperback or found at old bookstores).

Brilliant Silver Linings

2011-09-21T18:26:00.000-07:00

It’s been said that every cloud has a silver lining. This is especially true for writers. When something painful or exciting or piquant or unexpected happens in a writer’s life, instead of getting upset or distracted we can be creative. All is grist for our writerly mill.

For example, an anonymous writer said, “I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, ‘Where's the self-help section?’ She replied, ‘If I told you, it would defeat the purpose.’” This writer could have gone away grumpy. Instead, he related the event as a humorous anecdote.

A quote from Dali Lama also illustrates this idea. “Remember that not getting what you want,” he said, “is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.”

Sharing our good luck can set us up to enjoy our own silver linings more enthusiastically. For example, last week, I decided to share a silver lining of my day by dropping “lucky” pennies in the parking lot of a well-known store. It began when I got out of my car and saw a handful of change next to my foot. It was impossible to track down and return it to its owner, so I picked up four bright shiny pennies and tucked one in my change purse…for luck! Then, I dropped a shiny penny next to the rear bumper of my car, dropped another one halfway across the gap between the parking lot and the doorway, and the last penny just in front of the doorway, itself.

It’s not often that we get to observe the results of our efforts, either great or small, but that day I did. On my way into the store, a four-year-old boy ran up and grabbed the bright penny that I had dropped near my car. He jumped around and thoroughly enjoyed himself, rejoicing in that lucky penny. On my way out of the store, I saw a ninety-year old using a walker stop, stoop down and pick-up the shiny penny I had dropped halfway across the roadway in front of the store. He grinned, sheepishly, as he tucked it into his pocket. The third penny was still glittering on the pavement just outside the store entrance when I drove away.

My point? It doesn’t cost much to find and share a silver lining. Silver linings can be as available as a little pocket change, as free as a sunset. At the end of the day, count your silver linings. It may surprise you what creative tales they bring to mind.

Keys to Great Writing

2011-09-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

Although many people write for a living and many more love to write as a hobby, great writing is as rare as hen’s teeth. Great writing is genuine, clear and moving. It can be written in many styles, yet has deep universal impact. Whether expressed through poetry, fiction or non-fiction, great writing sears itself into the memory, often moving the reader to act or change.

Keys to great writing are simple yet challenging.

First, the passion behind the topic must be genuine and deep. Blake said he would “…sooner strangle an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires.” Deep desires are the mystic touchstones on which great writing is founded. Act on yours. Let yourself feel the passion so common in childhood that has been slowly walled up behind adult responsibilities and daily cares, then express them. Like putting your hand on a beating heart, this passion will move you, as well as your readers.

Second, unbridle your imagination. Flaubert said, “It’s a delicious thing to write. To be no longer yourself, but move in an entire universe of your own creating.” Immersing yourself in imagination is both empowering and addicting. Imagination, like blood, carries life into your writing. Instead of sterile, predictable phrases, you pen words of fire and tales that are brilliant and luminous. Imagination creates atmosphere and purpose that lifts readers above the mundane.

Third, make it personal. When you express truths in your writing that touch you, they will also touch others. Brenda Euland said, “…all people have in them this power to write greatly and well, when they express freely and carelessly what is true to them.” What is true to you? What is the nutritive base in which your life takes root? Open your heart to the unconscious power of what moves you, personally. This is a vital element of great writing.

Finally, embrace the act of writing. Simply write. Every day, write. Open your heart and pick up your pen. Put words on paper, however ordinary those words and phrases. Only by writing, regularly, devotedly, can we develop the invisible muscles of our inward art. As we write, eventually and irrevocably, our writing becomes better. So, write! Write at the grocery store while waiting in the checkout line. Write at the stop light, while waiting for the light to change. Write during each and every boring, formerly wasted moment, on a scrap of paper or in a little note pad. You will be shocked at the end of the day at what gems you have penned. It is these gems, lit by the fire of truth, that will make your writing great!

Writing Down the Bones

2011-09-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

Rarely we discover a book about the craft of writing that shines. Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg, is such a book. Like a ray of brilliance, the text parts the murk of boring and repetitive trade manuals on writing, and introduces readers to the rarified air of hard won knowledge. It’s refreshing to read and enlightening to understand.

“Like a white snail, the toilet slides into the living room, demanding to be loved,” Goldberg writes, quoting a reading. “…In the book of the heart, there is no mention made of plumbing…The toilet slides out of the living room, like a white snail, flushing with grief.”

The humor and originality of this quote discomfits readers while stirring their humor. And, where is the creative lodestone awaiting our touch to shed its magic onto the page? It can be a simple as relaxing, as genuine as a catnap in a patch of sunlight.

“…without thinking, begin to write…” she continues. “This means letting go and allowing the elm in your front yard to pick itself up and walk over to Iowa. Try for good, strong first sentences…play around. Dive into absurdity and write!”

Every writer is a budding writer, whether their works have been published or never seen the light of day. In Writing Down the Bones we experience the childlike awe that led us to believe that a knight could ride down the lane at noon or a monster crawl out of the closet at midnight.

“Writing is 90% listening,” Goldberg states. “You listen so deeply to the space around you that it fills you, and when you write, it pours out of you. If you can capture that reality around you, you need nothing else.”

How often, instead of listening to the space that surrounds us, do we beat ourselves against the polished text of the masters? When did they come up with that opening line? How did that exquisite meter evolve? What did they do to create such matchless rhythm and symmetry? The answer to these urgent questions may be as simple as relaxing, listening and letting the muse within express in its own unique way.

“So while we are busy writing, all the burning life we are eager to express should come out of a place of peace,” she concludes. “…someplace in us should know the utter simplicity of saying what we feel.”

Relax into writing. Rejoice into writing. Refresh yourself through writing. Leave all judgment, critiquing, fearful anticipation and comparison behind. Let the wellspring of creation, alive in children and Spring and stars, pour out of you. As you do, you will taste the joy of…writing down the bones!

Your Writing Room

2011-09-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

Everyone needs a writing room, a special place that nurtures creative endeavors. Your room will reflect your personality, but should also include, 1) An ambiance that helps you create, 2) Soothing colors and sounds.

Start with your ambiance. Do you like to be surrounded by sound and activity when writing? If so, your writing room could be the kitchen. In between meals, family members still congregate in the kitchen. It is a place not just for eating but for whispering secrets and sharing the trials of the day. If you are inspired by this kind of ambiance, set up your writing computer or station in the kitchen, or in at local coffee shop. The diversity of a constant stream of varied personalities and their interactions can inspire your creative efforts.

Does your ideal ambiance include a window? For some writers a view is essential to the writing process. To others it is a distraction, a prospect of visual cues that constantly derails their writing process. Personally, I love a view, but a view from the second floor. As long as the window is not directly behind my computer, a view is refreshing, especially when not invaded by noisy passersby.

Next, make sure that your room has colors that harmonize with your personality. Deep creams and jewel tones are my favorites. My room has cream-colored walls, with jewel toned tiffany lamps and a soft-toned tapestry. A forest green-and-gold runner, combined with cherry wood furniture completes my ideal writing retreat. Yet, this room is very small…even tiny. You don’t need a large room to write in, just an appealing one.

Every writing room should have a current dictionary, thesaurus, and Writers Market. Other favorite resources (which I draw upon regularly) include, Six Figure Freelancing by Kelly James-Enger, Eats Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss, The Writers Essential Tackle-Box by Lynn Price and If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland. Inspiring fictional works also empower my vocabulary, so favorite paperbacks also have an important place on my writing room shelves…these range from Fruitflesh by Gayle Brandeis to Ariel by Steven R. Boyett, from the Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, vol. 2, edited by George Mann, to Mystic Quest by Tracy & Laura Hickman. When my mind is fatigued picking up one of these books can renew my creativity and re-sharpen my focus.

Shelves and files support your writing efforts with an organized system. However, I make sure that everything that could distract is neatly tucked into a drawer. No hanging wires or messy papers for me! That would just drive me into a cleaning frenzy, which would distract from my writing time. So determine what supports you, what appeals to you and what inspires you. Your writing room can be an Eden, as long as you include what you want and need.

Relax into the Joy of Writing

2011-09-12T12:14:00.001-07:00

In my experience, criticism is commonplace while sincere compliments are rare for a professional writer. So, what does a writer do to fill up his or her bucket with confidence? Remember that writing is its own reward. The act of writing feeds and fills the soul. It is a form of self-expression that requires bravery, commitment and endurance. Notice that I did not say talent! Although there are many talented writers in the world, many less-than-talented writers see their works in print due to sheer gutsy determination. In point of fact, that’s where most of us start!

Connect with your inner muse by thinking about something that you would love to write about, and then erase everything else from your mind. Put your brain on idle. Lean back, close your eyes and let your fingers drop the pencil onto the notepad in your lap. As you do, a rush of events, ideas, dialogue and actions will stream into your consciousness. When this happens, it’s easy to act as a creative scribe. Pretend you’re at the movies, that you’re watching images from a great film flicker across the screen. Write down everything. This is the best way, the easiest way, to write!

“All my life,” Anne Lamott said, “I’ve felt that there was something magical about people who could get into other people’s mind and skin, who could take us back to ourselves. And…I still do!”

Let yourself relax and nurture your inner mind. Honest feelings, crisp prose and simple yet telling plotlines with pour out of you. Then, even if your work is not brilliant, it will ring true. Dialogue, character, plotline and conclusions will taste of universal feeling, possessing a “rightness” that would be missing otherwise. Tasting that sweetness is something every writer should experience.

The plain truth is that “Once upon a time…” is very, very real. Our lives are filled with “Once upon a time…” beginnings, middles and ends. If you want proof, just look out your kitchen window. You will see people rushing by in their cars, children playing with pets, utility trucks pulling up to disgorge repairmen. The warp and woof of everyday events makes marvelous backgrounds for poignant storytelling.

One of my dearest friends auditioned with me years ago. We were both selected to perform in the same musical, but she received many more parts than I did. She had a nice voice, but so did I. One day, I asked how she achieved her success. “Oh, I don’t wait for the director to assign my solos,” she said. “I decide which ones I want and go ask him to let me sing them.”

Sometimes the best thing we can do is ask the universe for what we want, then sit back and allow ourselves to receive!

Seven Deadly Sins

2011-09-09T10:34:00.000-07:00

As with all creative endeavors, latitude is essential to support an original approach. But, there are certain things you don’t want to do as a writer, no matter how unique your craft.

1) Don’t fake facts. This sounds like simple common sense, but in the heat of the creative moment it’s tempting to type into a book or article something discussed at the dinner table or over the water cooler. Every author should vet his or her research. Nor should statistics be passed over or dismissed. A solid understanding of your topic, including quotes from experts, will reflect well on you as an author, instead of undermining your work with shoddy or unproven guesswork.

2) Never dismiss your competition. Get hands-on with the best selling authors in your chosen field. Read their work. Critique their top sellers. This knowledge paves the way to success by educating you in currently popular writing. And, since editors usually seek a fresh angle on the tried and true, this study may inspire a cutting edge approach that may raise your works above the ordinary.

3) Don’t forget the hook. The best first line of defense for marketing success is the title of your book or article. This is where you plant your initial “hook” that attracts the reader. So, get really creative when brainstorming for a headline. Make it something so attractive that any reader must read the rest of the page.

4) Don’t fail to edit. Editing is probably the most valuable part of the writing process. It is the act of faceting the gem, of crafting the shape of thought with precision and brilliance. The recent movie Avatar is a great example of brilliant creative concepting and execution that fell short during the editing process. It really didn’t need to be almost three hours long. In fact, if the editor had cut more the movie would have had greater impact. Granted that this was a film not a book, still the same truth applies. Editing turns good writing into great writing. So, always remember to edit.

5) Never procrastinate your start date. Do it, today. So what if you walk around in a sweaty T-shirt, yank your dinner out of the microwave or miss that episode of Boston Legal? We can’t do everything. Time is limited. Make sure that you write for at least five-minutes, today and every day!

6) Don’t marry your monster. Many of us get married to an idea even before we start writing. Although the excitement of passionate connection with a concept is seductive, it can also be limiting. There may be a better angle, a fresher approach, a more fascinating tale to be told…but we will miss this completely without keeping an open mind. So, don’t set yourself up for a creative divorce! If your idea is engaging today, it will be entrancing tomorrow. Wait before you commit. It’s a proven formula for writing success.

7) Don’t forget to finish. Wherever you are on the spectrum of talent and skill, it won’t get you far if you don’t finish. Completing the project is the most essential part of the job. Look on the shelves, in the art galleries or even at the infomercials touting new inventions, like doggy bed heating pads. If these folks hadn’t finished their projects, they wouldn’t be bringing in the big bucks…and neither will you!

Muscle Up Your Reputation

2011-09-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

Since childhood, I’ve dreamed of publishing a book. A wonderful book. A touching book. A book that would move hearts and change the world! My primary goal was to get the book on the shelf. Once the book was written and published, I assumed that everything would be hunky-dory, pie-in-the-sky, perfectly scrumptious, with a scoop of French vanilla on the side.

Oops! Another common misconception. Publishers don’t give a shucky-darn about your professional success, so you won’t get help there. As seasoned authors know, your future as a writer depends upon your reputation. The hard cold truth is that no one will get the word out about your book but you, and possibly some sympathetic friends and relatives. Here are a few tips to help both published and unpublished writers succeed!

1. Get yourself some PR – You don’t have to be featured in an article, just mentioned. If you’ve won an award, donated your books to a charity, or done anything (including walking the back fence holding a book in each hand) call the editor of your local paper. This is hard to do, especially since most of us feel more comfortable hoarding our kind deeds and achievements in the shadows. But, you must act as your own PR specialist. So, get creative and get your name out there!

2. Build name recognition – My sister, Roxy Haney, has written four unpublished novels. (Good for her!) Today, she is building name recognition by writing a weekly article for a small local paper. There is no money involved, but lots of people know her name. This is really smart thinking! When a writer brings a positive reputation to the table, publishers pay attention.

3. Make public speaking part of your platform – You may not know much more than the next guy about any particular topic, but when you speak in public it’s assumed that you are an expert. Find local groups that need speakers and volunteer. Then, you can Google your chosen topic and become an expert before you step behind the podium. Just think how many more people will know about your book once you’ve given a knowledgeable, crackerjack talk.

4. Submit your work to contests – Roxy Haney (am I proud of her or not?) submitted the first chapter of one of her novels to a contest and won first place! This looks really good on your resume. If the chicken and the egg problem of achievement vs. anonymity has stumped you in the past, go to the local library and write down some upcoming contests. You have a better chance of winning than you realize, and just might be surprised by your success!

5. Take an active role in a local writing organization – Once you start giving to an organization that supports your writing dreams, good energy (as well as extraordinary contacts) flow your way. Nothing prepares you for success better than serving others. It’s like a bright candle on a hilltop, one that not only guides you toward achievement but inspires others, as well. Remember, if you give it away for a year, it will feed you for life!

Treasures from La Jolla

2011-09-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

Whenever I attend a conference about writing, my creativity and spirit are strengthened and empowered. The La Jolla Writers Conference is a unique gathering of authors, agents and literary experts that "pay it forward," without remuneration. Here are a few highlights gleaned from their presentations.

“People get in trouble when they write not from what they believe and know, but from false or contrived perspectives. When you write a screenplay, ignore Hollywood trends. Write from your truth. Remember, our brains process visual media in the same way they process dreams. Build honesty into your script by remembering that all characters lie.”

Warren Lewis/Screenwriter

“Each character brings skills to the table, skills including social engineering or manipulation. Their appearances can disarm. Inner duality sets up conflict, beautifully. Weaknesses inspire lessons learned and, in heroes, can become strengths. When crafting characters, remember that Ted Bundy worked at a suicide hotline and refused to steal cars that were uninsured. Superman needs his kryptonite.”

Lisa Gardner/Author

“I always think that what I write is rubbish. Even today, I feel my editors have been conned by my first eleven books and will discover their mistake in book twelve! But, I want to tell you that the key to great writing is to write. Simply write. Write every day. Write through pain and into inspiration. Your test is just this…anyone can start a book, but few can finish it.”

Jane Green/Author

“We each have a distinctive style by what we choose and how we write. As a writer, I’m not teaching math or discussing natural law. Sloppy craftsmanship is discernable and technical. When you hear the typing as you read, it’s sloppy craftsmanship. Openings are important because they determine whether or not you get read. It’s your last chance to make a first impression. Transparency to the mind of the character is essential. Remember, all there is in a book is writing. Embed the details. Trust the reader. You get character through action. Plant details that keep your reader turning the page.”

Steven Boyett/Author

“The difference between a published writer and an unpublished writer is one submission. Mastery of a skill usually takes at least 10,000 hours. How can you apply yourself to writing and cut straight to quality? Outlining moves your story forward. When you feel confident with the outline, your muse feels confident with the tale. The telling detail, specific and pertinent, makes the difference. Good enough isn’t good enough. Use all your powers. Write to please yourself, to satisfy your deep-seated urge to be great. If you do less, your writing will not satisfy.”

Mark Clementes/Author

“Get informed about the writing world. Make connections that link your character to significant world events. Make others think that their lives would be improved with your book and that they can’t live without your book. Then, your book will sell!”

Antoinette Kuritz/Literary Publicist

Learning from the best improves your knowledge and skills. More writers should attend conferences, like the La Jolla Writers Conference, where their best efforts are rewarded and their talents refined.

Your True Calling

2011-09-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

My earliest memories reveal a fascination with language. Though this passion may have been inborn, I blame the local library. The Multnomah County Public Library, a magnificent three-story building composed of marble floors, granite walls and wrought stone pillars, was built in 1864 and is the oldest public library west of the Mississippi. During my youth, it housed, in addition to ceiling high shelves of books in echoing rooms, a series of open reference stacks. These mysterious, shadowed book aisles were so long that they narrowed toward far away pinpricks of light, like tunnel exits. Here, I happily lost myself in the touch of books, the scent of books, the magnetic pull of well written tales that entranced, as I dreamily drifted from aisle to aisle, with time, unfelt and unnoticed, washing past in an unseen tide.

Of course, my first love was a book.

Was it Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates or The Wind in the Willows; A Little Princess or The Scarlet Pimpernel? No matter. I love them still, and their glorious adventures, humble or noble, still haunt my heart.

Reading led to writing.

The lure of writing was far more than the scent of freshly ground pencil lead or the almost painterly look of words on paper. Writing was, and still is, an unconscious, uncontrollable urge, like breathing. If I were to stop writing, I would suffer a very real kind of death. For, writing is my life’s work, my true calling.

Does that mean I am not a real writer unless my name tops the New York Times Best Sellers List? Some writers believe that. They believe that reputation or publication or money determine wealth. I don’t. Real wealth is the act of writing, the experience of writing, the craft of writing that grows within the soul until it tingles down your fingertips, through your pen and onto the page. Whoever connects the value of writing with fame or fortune, is not a real writer.

My passion for writing introduced me to the sterling members of the Southern California Writers Association. For the past six years, it has been my privilege to nurture writerly efforts by serving on The SCWA Board, as either the Vice President of Programming or the President, or both. I have received far more than I have given, for which I am grateful.

Now, stepping out of the limelight, I share this counsel. Write! Write as if your life depended on it…because it does. Write as though generations unborn hunger for your words…because they do. Dismiss all dry, anxious doubts and write! Don’t write to please or provoke. Don’t write for profit or fame. Write to translate your inner fire into language. Write to share the tenderness native to your heart. Write to release your unique wellspring of creativity.

Write for love…and, love to write!

Crime, Mystery and Suspense

2011-08-31T12:01:00.001-07:00

Classic stories of crime, mystery and suspense have long inspired modern writers. Stories like, The Room of the Evil Thought by Elia W. Peattie; The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow by Anna Katherine Green; The Mystery of Marie Roget by Edgar Allan Poe; The Adventure of the Red Circle by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; and, The Blue Cross by G. K. Chesterton. Each of these stories touches on a universal theme that possesses broad appeal. The cursed necklace, the mysterious stranger, the locked room. Oddly enough, it’s the simple things that frighten us most, and classic authors took advantage of the fact. What could be more mind chilling than a common heartbeat that comes, not from a human chest, but from under the floor?

Of course, the umbrellas of crime, mystery and suspense now cover a lot of sub-genres. These popular tales include everything from cozy (bloodless) adventures to romantic suspense to “tween” puzzles, and more. But, regardless of “spin” or sub-genres, overall definitions remain the same.

A mystery is a secret, riddle or puzzle. Within the mystery fiction framework we find cozy mysteries (mind puzzles with little action and lots of deduction), the tough P.I. mystery (crammed with non-stop action and blood-spatter), and the cop mystery (where facts and fear are served up as the main course for a police procedural). Crime tales are, as defined by Wikipedia, stories that “…deal with crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. Sub-genres include detective fiction (including the whodunit), legal thriller, courtroom drama and hardboiled fiction.” The suspense thriller is unlike any other genre. Here we find spy novels, crimes of passion and familiar madness, and always, uncertainty of resolution. Writing from multiple points of view, including the perspective of the villain, is one trick used to heighten the reader’s anxiety in a suspense thriller, which usually defines the challenge early-on and resolves it as close to the end of the work as possible.

Yet, in these three different types of fiction, there is one universal that can add panache to every tale. Author intrigue. Author intrigue is the singular idea that when the writer identifies and writes about what fascinates him or her that energy is passed on to the reader, like a lit match touching dry tinder. Sound simple? Think of it as a mystery ready to be solved. Write out what you like most in the mystery, crime or suspense fiction that you personally love. If necessary, make a list. Then, set your imagination to work. Weave these elements into your next writing project. The change will surprise you.

Writers exercise the greatest power when they write from the heart. So, discover what touches your heart and let it bloom into words of fire. If you don’t discover why you enjoy mystery and suspense, and then apply that to your writing…it would be a crime!

Editing for Success!

2011-08-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

Whether you are content editing or line editing, editing is the key to a polished manuscript. Content editing means reading for flow, evaluating the placement of ideas or events and ensuring that point of view is consistent, throughout. Action, stories and events should follow a logical order, where stories flow easily and plot points appear on cue. Line editing is reading for grammatical accuracy. This means that your basic grammar is correct, that repetitive or redundant phrases are eliminated, and that adjectives/modifiers are used appropriately and only when necessary.

Most of us love specific words, and use them over and over in our prose. Sharpening our awareness of such a habit is the first step to refining editorial skills. As part of polishing your manuscript through content editing, identify overused words or phrases and eliminate them. For example, one popular writer (with several fine books to his credit) repeated the same word, again and again, throughout his novels. The word was “smirk.” Every other page, some character smirked. The hero smirked. The villain smirked. The sidekick smirked. He must have used at least 500 smirks in a single book. Obviously, the author was unaware of this redundancy. Unfortunately, these “smirks” made it past his editor and onto the shelf.

Line editing is wonderful for removing pointless “thats,” “ands,” “buts” or other meaningless words. When done correctly, it’s like pressing your manuscript through a sieve. Everything extraneous or redundant is screened away. What remains is a literary gem, a story faceted with creative phrases and memorable metaphors.

Need I say, dump your clichés? A cliché is a phrase that’s been so overused it has no meaning. The online dictionary defines it as “a trite, stereotyped expression; a sentence or phrase…that has lost originality, ingenuity and impact by long overuse…” Phrases like “mad as a hatter” or “monkey brained” are clichés. Our bodies are only as healthy as their individual cells. Similarly, our manuscripts are only as interesting as our individual words and phrases.

Finally, stellar writing requires a stellar vocabulary. Nothing makes a manuscript stand out like brilliant verbiage. This doesn’t mean each sentence should be packed with four and five syllable words. Sometimes we get the biggest emotional punch from short, sharp words that pop. Mastering writing requires an intimate knowledge of language. Pursue your love of words by studying them. Don’t be afraid to use a thesaurus. Find one you like and make it your counselor.

Editing is the last step for a good writer. Clarity, fluency and polish depend on editing skills. As an editor, your best education is to read, read, read. The more you read, the more you hone an intuitive sense for structure and flow. Years ago, I bought a book about Robert Frost, my favorite poet. In this book, they showed a first draft of his poem, Nothing Gold Can Stay. I was shocked. It was mediocre writing. But, after editing, it became one of his most powerful poems. Remember, quality editing makes good writing great!

Seven Secrets to Writing a Best Seller

2011-08-26T15:46:00.001-07:00

No one has a formula for writing a best selling book. However, there are certain rules of thumb that make it more likely that your manuscript will translate into top sales.

1) Write from research. Every author should research what is selling and what is not selling. Not that this should determine which genre is selected. (Whichever genre you love to read most is probably the genre you should write). Nor should statistics about what is selling today determine what you write. In a year, the publishing world could be topsy-turvy. But, a solid understanding of the highs and lows that naturally occur in publishing will give you an edge when it comes to developing and marketing your book.

2) Know your competition. Develop familiarity with the top selling books in your chosen field. This knowledge paves the way to success by educating you in what readers buy and in what ideas/concepts are stale or fresh. Since editors usually want a new angle on the tried and true, this information prompts you to find a fresh hook for your book.

3) Create a catchy title. Regardless of rumor, this is much more important than cover art. A catchy title stops the potential reader in his or her tracks and motivates them to pull your book off the shelf and open to the first chapter. The good news is that there are more literate buyers on the book market today than ever before. The bad news is that they are much more sophisticated and demanding when it comes to what they read. (This applies to editors, as well).

4) Tell a fascinating tale. Evaluate your favorite books to determine what this includes, or review the basics in “Stealing Fire From the Gods.” Make sure your story is better than the episode of the latest sitcom. Today, even commercials tell a tale, and most of them are polished and motivating. Your story must be better than a Geico ad to get consideration by an editor at a publishing house.

5) Just do it. Start writing. Spend the time you would normally spend doing laundry, fixing dinner or watching TV at the computer. So what if you walk around in a sweaty T-shirt, yank your dinner out of the microwave or miss that episode of Boston Legal? We can’t do everything. Time is limited. Make sure that you write for at least five-minutes, today and every day!

6) Make the first chapter “pop!” If your writing is “hot” in the first chapter, it’s more likely to continue at this high level throughout the manuscript. This applies to both fiction and non-fiction writing. First chapters act like magnets, pulling readers into the storyline. The day is long gone when either fact or fiction can be slapped down on a page without polish or panache.

7) Finish the book. Your talent may rival that of Dean Koontz, but no one will know or care if they can’t read your work. Too many of us fail because we don’t finish. Trust me…you are far more likely to get a contract offer for an unpolished manuscript than for an unwritten idea.

The Brilliant Robert McCrum

2011-08-24T11:26:00.001-07:00

Brilliant author and philosopher Robert McCrum, journalist for The Observer, has forgotten more about writing than most of us can claim to have learned over a lifetime. His fascinating article in the June 2002 edition of this publication is one example of exactly how to organize your thinking before attempting to write a best selling book.

“First, make sure you attempt fiction rather than non-fiction. Fiction is just one genre, non-fiction runs the gamut. The public's appetite for novels of all sorts is far broader and potentially more commercial than the market for, say, history or popular science.

Yes, megasellers such as Antony Beevor's Berlin: The Downfall or Dava Sobel's Longitude can be adduced in refutation of this rule, but for every Longitude (a freakish and brilliant one-off) there will be a dozen Pratchetts, Coopers or Hornbys.

Second, having chosen fiction, don't forget to tell a good story. Grab the reader by the throat on page one, get your narrative fingers round his or her collar in the first chapter and don't let go until everyone's living happily ever after, burying the dead in a wintry twilight or driving off into a better and a finer future.

And don't be too original. Shakespeare himself did not disdain well-tried tales. There are various theories about the number of basic plots in the world. Some people say three, some seven, some ten. There's no harm in having your fiction conform to a fictional archetype.

But don't - my third law - become too calculating. If one thing characterises the writers of bestselling books, it is that, to a person, they believe in their star. Every line they write is scratched in letters of fire. Next to the bestselling writer, Napoleon had an inferiority complex.

And, finally, if you decide to put sex into your work: beware. This is the most difficult kind of writing, and almost always makes the writer look ridiculous. In fact, to avoid embarrassment in the bedroom department, you would be well advised to make a careful study of American novelist Elizabeth Benedict's excellent handbook, The Joy of Writing Sex (Souvenir Press) which, despite its come-hither title, is actually a wise and down-to-earth guide to the mechanics of fiction, from soup to nuts.”

Robert McCrum

Quoted from http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/jun/09/features.review3

We all know that there is no guarantee of success in writing anything, but these four rules are truly golden. Follow them and you will come closer to writing that elusive best seller than ever before!

Freelance Writing for Fun and Profit

2011-08-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

Whether you look at freelance writing as a hobby or an impossible dream, this multi-million dollar industry can provide healthy roots for your professional writing life.

Start with Confidence – When you first start freelancing, you may be tempted to talk yourself down. After all, where are your credentials and awards? Remember, you are not promoting credentials and awards. You are promoting your unique view of the world coupled with a natural talent for the written word. Did you win a contest in grade school? Have you ever received high marks on creative writing assignments? Focus on positive past experiences, however humble, and you will be able to introduce yourself to editors with confidence.

Write What You Love – Whether you are sixteen or sixty, you have already amassed a large amount of knowledge about topics that interest you. Put your best foot forward and start contacting magazines and editors. Even if you’ve never written an article or press release before, you can do it! This is not rocket science. With a gutsy approach and a little faith, you, too, can land a freelance writing job that pays!

Don’t Re-Create the Wheel - Online and at your favorite bookstore, you will find abundant resources to help you write anything and everything. From articles to query letters, information is at your fingertips. So, do a little research. Take a moment or two to write down a list of your favorite topics. Then, seek out samples of queries and articles dealing with those topics. You will be amazed at how easy it is to move forward with your freelancing goals when you have a few examples on which to model your efforts. (See the book Six Figure Freelancing by Kelly James-Enger).

Broaden Your Sales – Remember that most successful writers don’t use their research for just one story. They re-slant their research and write for different markets. For example, you could research the seven top foods that cause weight loss for a magazine like Prevention, then re-slant these facts for an article about weight loss after pregnancy for Parenting Magazine. Of course the research and expert quotes would need adjustment so that each article would be unique, but it’s amazing how much information you discover during the research phase that is not used in an original project.

Make the Editor Happy – Think about it. Every editor is inundated with project queries all day, everyday. What would you want if you were an editor; something fresh, creative and appealing to the magazine’s readership? When you think like an editor, you make an editor’s life a little easier. And, that translates into sales any day of the week!

First Line of Attack

2011-08-19T01:08:00.000-07:00

The most powerful “hook” in a book is the first line. A first line should encapsulate the core message without giving plot secrets away. It must capture the imagination of the reader with the tantalizing promise of revelations to come, while hinting at the main thread of the storyline.

Steven R. Boyett’s best selling novel Ariel starts with, “I was bathing in a lake when I saw the unicorn.” After reading that first line, who could put the book down? This one simple sentence makes it clear that the hero is a boy…not a man. He is innocent, not guilty…pure not corrupt, and faces a world that is a crucible of experience destined to strip away childhood. All this is conveyed in less than a dozen words, the first words in the first line of a brilliant literary work.

“Man,” said Terl, “is an endangered species.”

This is the first line of L. Ron Hubbard’s classic Battlefield Earth. After reading that sentence, I devoured the first half of the book in one fell swoop, practically without breathing. Why was humanity an endangered species? Who was Terl? What had humankind done to set the feet of their descendants on such a fatal course? Perhaps, my opinion is skewed by my love for fantasy and science fiction, but I believe this single sentence is one of the best first lines ever written.

Hugo and Nebula award winner Orson Scott Card wrote a landmark book titled Ender’s Game. “I’ve watched through his eyes, I’ve listened through his ears, and I can tell you he’s the one.” What does this first line do to your heart rate? If your heart doesn’t speed up, your mind doesn’t gear up and your imagination doesn’t steam up, you’re probably dead! What a great “hook,” and what a wonderful first line.

In my paperback copy of Life Expectancy, Dean Koontz autographed the word, Boo! And, then, he signed his name. This is my favorite of all of Dean’s multitudinous works, because the entire storyline is foreshadowed in the first sentence. “On the night that I was born, my paternal grandfather, Josef Tock, made ten predictions that shaped my life.” The predictions were more nearly curses and our protagonist had to survive each impossible event to carry the story forward. What a brilliant book! What a great first line!

From classical first lines like, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…” to contemporary first lines such as, “My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down,” the first sentence of a book is the very real “hook” that allows an author to reel the reader in. How do successful writers come up with these first lines? Where do they get their inspiration? Through intuition and clarity.

You don’t have to know each twist and turn of your story to be aware of its karmic value. Some writers plot out the storyline, while others make it up as they go along. Both have a general direction, an inner compass that points the way to fate, to challenge, to the adventures through which their characters must pass to reach safe haven. If you are really in love with your story, with your characters, with writing, the first line will come to you. It may not come clear until the entire tale is on the page, but when it does it will “hook” your reader, and open doors of wonder to reader and writer, alike.

Bird by Bird

2011-08-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

Anne Lamott’s New York Times bestseller, Bird by Bird, is an insightful, motivating gift to all writers. Open and intimate, this honest portrayal of a writer’s life de-mystifies the writing process, while re-enthroning the act of writing and the use of personal experience to inspire imagination.

“Ever since I was a little kid,” Anne says, “I’ve thought that there was something noble and mysterious about writing, about the people who could do it well, who could create a world as if they were little gods or sorcerers. All my life I’ve felt that there was something magical about people who could get into other people’s minds and skin, who could take us back to ourselves. And, you know what? I still do.”

In the competitive world of creativity, crucifixion is commonplace and nurturing a rare prize. Yet, without honest nurturing, creative souls may never taste the sweetness that comes with a manuscript well written or a check from a publisher. Anne Lamott, the daughter of a well-known writer, nurtures the artist within by sharing tales of sorrow and serenity in the voice of one who knows. In simple crisp prose, she talks about plot, how to get started, first draft blues, dialogue, character, publication, false starts and great endings. Bird by Bird is a helpful, hilarious book that is brilliantly written.

“So much of writing is about sitting down and doing it every day, and so much of it is about getting into the custom of taking in everything that comes along, seeing it all as grist for the mill,” Anne continues. “This can be a very comforting habit, like biting your nails…Maybe you never quite get to the point where you say, ‘Ah – so that’s what a gun looks like from this end.’ But, you take in all you can, as a child would, without the atmospheric smog of most grown-up vision.”

When sitting at your desk or kitchen table, feeling like the reluctant compass for the dull point of every pencil, fenced in by blank writing tablets and the troubles of the day, Bird by Bird can free you. Creative work, like birth, demands blood, sweat and tears. To coax something hidden in the heart or mind onto the page where God and your neighbor can read it, calls for a special kind of courage. During times when gloom overshadows your brightest aspirations, a book like Bird by Bird clears the air.

Writing Colonies & Retreats

2011-08-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

In the hustle and bustle of daily life, our cherished writing projects can get lost. Rushing through traffic, cleaning house, shuttling kids from school to soccer, working at a fulltime job…these tasks often drain us, mentally as well as physically. That’s why, writing colonies and retreats offer such treasured moments. When we steal away from mundane, pragmatic chores, when we drink in nature and solitude, we refresh the wellsprings of creativity that make creation possible.

One of the best reasons to attend a retreat is to develop connections with other serious writers. Not only can you meet and mingle with well-known luminaries, but your work may often be reviewed by editors/authors that are “in the know.” Many of the following listings are drawn from an article in the Writers Yearbook, written by author and passionate “retreat” writer Jordan E. Rosenfeld. Thank you, Jordan, for reminding us that every retreat should be thoroughly vetted prior to purchase or application.

The Adirondack Writers Mountain Retreat
Contact: Persis Granger
7460 SE 51st Way
Trenton, FL 32693
www.pw.org
Perkinfl@aol.com

AROHO - A Room of Her Own Foundation
P.O. Box 778
Placitas, NM 87043
tracey@aroomofherownfoundation.org

Hillhouse Farms Writers Retreat
894 Odd Fellows Hall Road
Pulaski, TN 38478
931.424.9029
karen@hillhousewriters.com

Hedgebrook Writing Colony
216 1st Avenue S., Suite 4AS
Seattle, WA 98104
206.325.6773

The Lucious Women's Writers Retreat
Taos, NM
Contact: Michele Lisenbury Christensen
206.696.1460

Helene Wurlitzer Foundation
P.O. Box 1891
Taos, N.M. 87571
505.758.2413

Mesa Refuge - Writing on the Edge
Point Reyes Writing Retreat (California)
P.O. Box 3286
Berkely, CA 94703
Juliet.Kirkham@gmail.com
mesarefuge@gmail.com

Vermont Studio Center
Box 613
Johnston, VT 05656
802.635.2727

Dorland Mountain Arts Colony
P. O. Box 6
Temecula, CA 92390
951.302.3837

Anam Cara Writers and Artists Retreat
Eyeries, Beara, Co. Cork, Ireland
353.(0) 27. 74441
info@anamcararetreat.com

Redwood Writing Project
Humbolt State University
Nelson Hall West 234
Arcata, CA 95521
707.826.5109

Lew Hunter Screenwriting 434
340 E. 7^th Street
Superior, Nebraska 68978
Lew1@windstream.net

Although I counsel every serious writer to experience a writer’s retreat at some point, remember that you can create a nurturing environment at home. Farm out the kids, trade off carpooling with a friend, stop off at the library or just buy a great pair of earmuffs. All of these ideas will bring you privacy and a change from the norm that may spark your inner muse.
That said, I recall a writers retreat at Arch Cape, OR with great affection. Dawns heralded by seagulls and crashing surf, misty mornings aglitter with dew drenched blackberry brambles, followed by sunsets of ruddy crimson laced with the scent of driftwood fires will always enrich my memory. Before leaving, I wrote a poem of hope, scripted it onto parchment, burned the edges, rolled it up and sealed it in a bottle by dripping wax over the cork. Of course, I threw it into the ocean. What else could I do with a message in a bottle? It was the ultimate act of hope. And, maybe that’s what writer’s retreats are for…for building hopes and nurturing dreams with solitude.

Re-Write! by Neal Asher

2011-08-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

One of the best short story writers I’ve found is Neal Asher. His website (http://freespace.virgin.net/n.asher) hosts examples of books, articles, short stories, TV scripts and magazine interviews. Many are thought provoking and informative. My favorite story by Asher is Mason’s Rats – Autotractor, published in the Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, volume 2. It is slap-the-floor funny, as well as futuristic and clever. With the author’s gracious permission, this article, entitled, "Rewrite!" is reproduced from his website.

“When do you cease to re-write work? Simple answer: when you are no longer improving as a writer, when you feel you have nothing more to learn, when you have achieved perfection. It is an unfortunate fact that some writers do believe this of themselves. They are normally the ones who have achieved success, and are drunk on the adulation of those who think a past participle is something you'll find in a linear accelerator.

“For me revision of a story partially ceases when I feel I have achieved a required effect, might well attain publication, and have more interest in the next project. But while it remains in my processor it is still subject to a critical eye. I don't believe there is such a thing as too much re-writing. You just reach the stage where you can't go any further with a piece and move on to the next. In the process, you jettison the bad and keep the good. You decide, and you base your decision, on what you are after. Publication? Re-write for the market acting on feedback from editors and readers. Personal satisfaction? Don't kid yourself. For my novella for Club 199 I took a thirty-thousand word story and extended it by ten thousand words to fit it within their parameters, and felt perfectly justified in doing so. As far as I am concerned, good writers are successful writers (though successful writers often degenerate into bad writers).

“There is no quick-fix formula. It is obvious such a formula is profoundly wished for, as the sales of the 'How To' books attest. When questions are posed as to the extent and method of re-writing, the real question being asked is: how do I write well? The first step on the road for ninety percent of would-be-famous novelists is to learn how to use the English language. Get hold of books like 'Fowlers Modern English Usage', 'Roget's Thesaurus', and perhaps a plain old 'Mastering The English Language -S.H. Burton'. For many people the re-write required is the one to turn their masterpiece into something intelligible. It was not until I joined some postal workshops that I found out just how bad it was possible for some writing to be. I also learnt that those writers who really try to get a handle on the language are also the ones who tell the best stories.

“Understanding the structure is all. You're not going to build a suspension bridge if you don't know how nuts and bolts go together. The rest is badly written soap-opera.

“So now you know how the English language works, have put a story together, and are looking at doing a re-write. You have looked at the story objectively and made sure that the bunch of flowers is beautiful rather than are beautiful and your hero still has the same color hair all the way through. How does it look subjectively? Where, for example, can you break the rules to the greatest effect? The best of writers are the ones who know how to do this. Steven Donaldson once managed a one-word sentence, that had the skin on my back crawling. (Of course I'm aware that it is not pc to like Donaldson; he's too successful). The word was 'Kevin'. No, not the spotty kid down the road. Kevin Landwaster, who performed the Ritual of Desecration and whose spectre has just stepped through a door from the underworld. I'm afraid no English book is going to tell you how to achieve the same (though 'The Critical Sense' by James Reeves comes mighty close).

“The only way to learn is through hard work, reading, and listening to criticism, though for the latter you must judge what is relevant. There are no substitutes for these, just as there is no substitute for talent. When you re-write you must see the images and feel the effects of every word. You have to decide what to discard and what to keep. There are many sources you can tap to help you make these decisions. But in the end they are your own.”

Just Do It!

2011-08-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

The phrase “Just Do It,” made famous by Nike ads, inspired a generation. It urged, in three simple words, that all doubt, planning and preparation should be put aside, in favor of action. This sparked a firestorm of protest in some and a deeper commitment to accomplish goals in others.

Our commitment to write can grow deeper as we discover approaches to writing that meet our needs. Some writers seek quiet retreats. Others thrive in the hustling atmosphere of a coffee shop or restaurant. Many find that the rarified atmosphere of a library gets creative juices flowing. The point is that writers should not limit themselves to a specific atmosphere or place. When we “Just Do It” the floodgates of imagination open and words pour onto the page.

Perhaps, the phrase “Just Do It” intimidates because it challenges our self-knowledge. It implies that all anyone needs is grit and determination, when every writer knows the trials inherent in inspiring The Muse.

If you want to “Just Do It,” write down three things that inspire your writing. Perhaps, you write better with music. Maybe you respond to the sounds of nature. It could be that a certain time of day works better for you. Get clear on what fuels your creative consciousness and line these things up. Once you’ve established a creative ambiance, everything else falls into place.

“Just Do It” becomes easy to embrace when you know what you need to do! The saving grace in this phrase is that it can be cut to fit according to each writer’s needs. Find out what fires your creativity, provide it for yourself and start writing. Think like a marketer involved in supply and demand and meet your writerly needs. Then, simple as it sounds, “Just Do It!”

The Art of Storytelling

2011-08-08T15:47:00.001-07:00

Imagine the first story. Was it told around the fireside, with smoke dimming the flame-lit faces of an eager circle of listeners? Was it about the hunt, the kill, the tracking of the enemy, or the discovery of a cache of furs that would warm a struggling tribe through the winter? Was it a history of parentage passed from mother to child, a genealogy woven of words or a poem recording the passing seasons?

The stories within us have roots in an ancient and worthy past, a hidden history etched in chromosomes and individual cells, the heritage passed down from ancestors through blood and brain and breath - as elemental as the earth, as glorious as a fall of meteors. Yet, these stories will die, unwritten and unread, unless we allow our creativity some air, some space, some breathing room.

Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, said, “No matter what your age or your life path, whether making art is your career or your hobby or your dream, it is not too late or too egotistical or too selfish or too silly to work on your creativity.”

Creativity is the wellspring of storytelling. We feed it when we use it. We use it when we tell a friend about our day, when we play hide-and-seek with the neighborhood kids, when we scribble in our journal…or, write a story.

Every story is about a hero or heroine overcoming hidden flaws in pursuit of the brass ring. In A Few Good Men, Tom Cruise discovers that he is not the slick operator he thinks he is, but a legal shyster, who has failed to exercise the courage to stand up for what he believes. In Erin Brockovitch, Julia Roberts learns that beauty alone does not make a firm foundation for an abundant or happy life. In Galaxy Quest, Tim Allan realizes that he is a fraud, a papier-mâché hero that everyone laughs at behind his back.

With these painful realizations comes the opportunity to deny or embrace truth, and thus either to continue to make the same mistakes or exercise the courage to change.

Tom Cruise chooses to become a man and stand-up for what he believes. Julia Roberts learns to fight for those that can’t fight for themselves. Tim Allan finds that, beneath his façade of fakery, is a foundation of leadership that guides his crew safely home.

So, take your hero, discover his flaw and make him face it. Add the kind of creative voice that attracted you as a child and watch your tale take flight. Storytelling can be plain or flowery, direct or twisted, but as long as it is true to your heart, your mind and your heritage, it will enthrall and entertain!

How to Write Right

2011-08-04T00:28:00.000-07:00

Longing to make your writing sit up and smile? Here are a few tried and true methods to polish off the dross and buff up the beauty.

1)         The shorter the better. Short words bring “punch” to writing. Recently, I read an article with the word existence sprinkled throughout the text. This article read much more easily when existence was replaced by the word life. As a rule, the shorter your words the better the overall read.
2)        Focus on fresh phrases. Go through the final edit with a red pencil. Scratch out phrases like in spite of, in view of or the fact that, and replace them with fresh language. Stock phrases sound canned, even if the idea is catchy.
3)        Vary your sentence length. When you follow long or medium length sentences with a short sentence, your script “pops.” In Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, we read: Alai reached his bed and turned around to see Ender. Their eyes held for only a moment, locked in understanding. Then Ender left. The fact that Ender left heightens suspense, because of varied sentence length.
4)         Use natural language. Mark Twain’s masterpiece Huckleberry Finn is a brilliant example of the use of natural language. Instead of a super-cerebral vocabulary, we read dialogue with a backwoods drawl. Words are simple and heartfelt, the hallmark of classic literature. For example - Not a sound, anywheres—perfectly still—just like the whole world was asleep, only sometimes the bullfrogs a-cluttering, maybe...you see the mist curl up off of the water, and the east reddens up…and next you've got the full day, and everything smiling in the sun, and the song-birds just going it!
5)         Trust your ear. As a final test, read your work aloud. Does it sound prosaic? Pseudo-intellectual? Unintelligible? Reading writing aloud is like examining it with a microscope. The tone is magnified, especially when read by someone other than the author. So, spend an evening with friends who are honest but kind. Critique your final draft, with a nurturing ear.
6)         Start in the kill zone. Begin your tale at a key moment, when characters and plot are already in motion and your high concept shines. Capture your reader with the hook of suspense. It works, every time!

Your True Calling

2011-08-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

Of course, my first love was a book.

Reading led to writing.

The lure of writing was far more than the almost painterly look of words on paper. Writing was, and still is, an unconscious, uncontrollable urge, like breathing. If I were to stop writing, I would suffer a very real kind of death. For, writing is my life’s work, my true calling.

Write! Write as if your life depended on it, because it does. Write as though generations unborn hunger for your words, because they do. Dismiss all dry, anxious doubts and write! Don’t write to please or provoke. Don’t write for profit or fame. Write to translate your inner fire into words. Write to share the vision native to your heart. Write to release your unique wellspring of creativity. Write because it is your true and most noble calling.

Write for love…and, love to write!

The Scent of Pencil Lead

2011-07-31T04:56:00.000-07:00

There's something special about the scent of freshly ground pencil lead. The feel of a pencil's faceted wood between my fingers, even the crumbling bits of eraser left after changing a mistake, tug me closer to any topic about which I write. Typing onto a keyboard doesn’t inspire me as deeply as the snick of a sharpened pencil moving over lined paper. Somehow, it adds distance between the idea and the page.
Perhaps, technology acts like artistic static. Nature, in all its forms, generates mental and emotional intimacy. It plucks the heartstrings of the writer, like the skilled hands of a harpist. A walk along the lake, a run through the park, or a moment of stillness beneath a tree can reconnect us with our inner and outer worlds, stimulating physical senses and mental acuity.
Gretel Erlich said, “Leaves are verbs that conjugate the seasons.”
The look of a leaf, the scent of its sap, the firm yet gentle feeling of its ribbed edges against your skin, stirs deeply buried remnants of imagination. Words you know but haven’t used in a while rise to mind. Writing becomes both visual and mental, composition an all-encompassing journey, as the senses reawaken the enthusiasms of youth.
As a child, I used to stop each time I sharpened a pencil, holding the point under my nose and sniffing, luxuriously. The scent of the lead was as satisfying as the smell of fresh bread.
So, stop and smell the pencil lead. It may be just the stimulation you need to breathe authenticity onto the page.

The Right Word

2011-07-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

The right word can change the world. Why? Because words change hearts and minds. They open new vistas of thought, facet ideas, inflame debate, motivate change and empower dreams. The right word sheds light, wisdom and clarity, wielding immeasurable influence. It may also disguise corruption, redefine worth, conceal ugliness, manipulate thought or twist truth into labyrinths of error.
Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between the lightening and the lightening bug.”
Although talking about creative writing, this quote rings true, since writers wield more power than they guess. Few realize the impact of their words, tossing them casually out into the world, ignorant of the ripples of discontent or satisfaction that they may cause.
Think before you write. Students should question teachers before crafting words of praise, especially when addressing “popular” subjects. Parents should pause before labeling a child with words, either good or bad. Business communicators should weigh the truthfulness of their words, instead of their prospective profitability.
The influence of our words, either written or spoken, will live as legacies long after we have forgotten them. Choose the right word, the true word, the word you can hang your heart on. For the words you choose change the world as you pass through it, leaving the imprint of ideas and ideals on the souls of others.